


Colors

by zeerogue



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Teacher-Student Relationship, except Lu Han's not a teacher yet, kailu - Freeform, lukai - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-16
Updated: 2017-05-16
Packaged: 2018-11-01 10:12:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 61,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10919718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zeerogue/pseuds/zeerogue
Summary: To Jongin, colors were more than an added layer to make a picture pretty. Colors were the very essence of a person's heart and Jongin was born able to see them. Except, he can't see the new student teacher's color, and he can't see his own.





	1. Yellow

**1. Yellow:**

**Because Every Day Should Start With the Sun**

 

 

            I had never known maroon and grass green to clash so much until I had to stare at them side by side everyday for two years. The two colors swirling around each other as two of my best friends wrestled and flirted with each other in our third year classroom hurt my eyes which were already red from a late night of trying to beat Taemin’s high score on EXO Rangers. And it wasn’t that they always wore maroon or green (our uniforms were yellow and black), it was just their personalities. Together, Chanyeol and Baekhyun were a pain.

 

It was lunch break on our third week of our senior year. Chanyeol had moved from his seat at the front of the class near the door to Baekhyun’s and my spots in the back by the window. He sat on Baekhyun’s desk sharing a large bread and a bowl of stir-fry rice with Baekhyun, the maroon aura around him vibrating with happiness. Baekhyun’s green aura was much calmer in comparison, flickering out only whenever Chanyeol reached out to touch any part of his body in skinship.

 

I met Baekhyun and Chanyeol in my first year of high school. Their auras hadn’t really stood out when I first walked into class, but when Chanyeol was up for introduction, Baekhyun’s aura had burst outward in interest and it wasn’t long until they were connected at the hip. When they started to date last year, I expected them to break up within the first month. Their five month long relationship still surprised me.

 

Green and maroon didn’t go together, they weren’t complimentary colors with that whole opposites attract thing. Since I was born I was able to see people’s colors, a visible formation of their soul. When I was little I had difficulty deciphering faced and had to tell who was who by their color. There were so many shades and so many colors that paying attention to how they shimmered and twisted allowed me to pay attention to details in people’s faces since that was easier on my eyes. And I learned how people’s colors correspond to other people’s colors.

 

In the world you can not have the same color as someone else that is living, but it is possible to have a color so close that it might as well be the same. The closer the color, the better suited you are to each other. Or you could have complementary colors as that seemed to work, too. I had taken art classes sporadically in elementary and middle school along side my dancing to understand why certain colors worked and Baekhyun’s and Chanyeol’s didn’t romantically. The why attracted me more than my actual need for friends.

 

“Hey, Kim Jongin,” Baekhyun called and waved the half eaten bread in my face. “Jongin, why aren’t you eating?”

 

I lifted my head from its spot using my blazer as a pillow on my desk and blinked. “Taemin’s bringing it. My mom went on a business trip and my sisters can’t cook for shit so his cousin made mine.”

 

“That Kibum guy that always harassed him in our first year?” Chanyeol asked. “I remember eating his cooking; it was delicious.”

 

“Yeah, lucky you,” Baekhyun said and stole the bowl of rice away from Chanyeol. Chanyeol start to complain, but got a mouthful of bread instead.

 

“Jonginnie, your girlfriend’s here,” one of the other students called out.

 

I looked up to see my childhood friend, Lee Taemin, at the door threatening the kid who called me just like he did every Monday and Friday during lunch when he could get away from his admirers in his own class. He didn’t particularly look like a girl; Taemin was just unbearably beautiful in an androgynous sort of way. Everyone loved him and if they didn’t they were jealous. He was as gentle as a lamb unless you were that kid. And it didn’t help that for most of high school he sported long hair quality of his cousin. It was shorter now and still his favorite brown.

 

I stood and waved. Taemin smiled seeing me, his aura lighting up the room. Brighter than most.

 

I would be lying if I said I had never fallen in love with Lee Taemin.

 

He let the kid go and hurried across the chaos of rearranged desks that happened during lunch time to slip in beside me taking my seat. I pulled myself up on the ledge of the window and held my hands out toward Taemin.

 

“Lunch.”

 

Taemin frowned, thick lips that were like a mirror of my own jutting out. “You’re just going to demand it like that? Do you know what I had to go through to get Key to make another lunch before he ran off to work?”

 

“Whatever it was, I doubt it was worth it for this guy,” Baekhyun said poking me in the arm with his chopsticks. I glared at him.

 

“Baekhyun, it’s my turn for the rice,” Chanyeol said reached around the smaller boy for the bowl.

 

“No, you took huge bites of the bread, I’m taking back my ratio in the rice,” Baekhyun said holding the bowl out of the way.

 

I turned back to Taemin and held my hands out again. “Feed me first then I’ll listen to you complain about your spastic cousin.”

 

Taemin’s nose wrinkled up, but he turned to the satchel bag he had came in with and pulled out a Tupperware still warm when it touched my hands. “Fried chicken, your favorite stupid Kkamjong.”

 

I eagerly opened it and pulled out the first drumstick I saw ripping into it with my teeth. “You’re using it like an insult again. My skin’s just naturally on the gold side so it’s darker.”

 

“Are those circles under your eyes naturally dark, too? Stop eating with your mouth full, you’re getting crumbs on me and Key hates cleaning my uniform.” He handed me a napkin.

 

“The dark circles are because you cheat at EXO Rangers. How in the world did you get 2,800 out of a total 3,000 in the last round only dying twice?”

 

Taemin reached out and squeezed my knee. “It’s a secret, but I’m sure you got your perfect score even if you died about ten times.”

 

I shook his hand away and nodded. Taemin’s aura radiated with amusement. Pure white. Nothing like my own. At least, I didn’t think so because out of everyone in the world, my aura was the only one I couldn’t see.

 

**(◕‿◕✿)**

 

Other than my own, I had only known of two other special auras, Taemin’s and his cousin’s, Key. Key lived with Taemin and his older brother, Jinki since middle school. When I went to Taemin’s house for the first time after he moved in, I almost threw up from how dizzy all the movement in Key’s colors made me. He had a rainbow aura, one that went well with everyone while also not fitting anyone. But Key dated just fine, so I had given up long ago on trying to understand it. Taemin’s aura was another mystery completely. I had never seen another pure white aura before and not one like Taemin’s. His color often ended up reflecting whoever he was interacting with gaining a slight shade for however long the conversation lasted. I didn’t notice it often when we were younger because nothing showed up when he talked with me, not even another blast of white. I finally understood in middle school that our colors didn’t match and gave up on the childhood crush I had on him (the dare that stole my first kiss also helped in that department). Then there was mine. I had assumed that my color was clear until I started becoming engrossed with fantasy and action films and realized maybe it was just a side effect of being born with this ability. I could help everyone else in their relationships, but my own would always remain a mystery. If I couldn’t see my own color, then finding someone to be romantically involved with would be all up to chance just like a normal person.

 

So I dated two girls in middle school.

 

It sucked.

 

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and looked up at, our homeroom teacher, Teacher Kim, as he got to the ending of his social studies lesson. He was facing the class, gentle smile lighting up his eyes as he encouraged us all to be good civilians and the stuff we had all heard since pre-school. He was a good teacher though, with a bright blue aura that kept the classroom calm and homey, so I felt bad pulling out my phone to check the text.

 

To: Kkamjong

From: Taeminnie

 

I’m bored.

 

I frowned wondering what my friend was doing texting me such an irrelevant thing from two classrooms down.

 

To: Taeminnie

From: Kkamjong

 

Then text your boyfriend.

 

To: Kkamjong

From: Taeminnie

 

He’s in class.

 

To: Taeminnie

From: Kkamjong

 

And I’m not?

 

I could almost hear Taemin laughing in the silence that came while I waited for him to text back. Teacher Kim was writing something on the bored and I moved my phone into my left hand and acted like I was taking notes.

 

To: Kkamjong

From: Taeminnie

 

You have the Guardian as your teacher.

Minho  has scary professors.

And his phone is probably off.

 

I rolled my eyes. Taemin had met a boy almost a year ago after going with his cousin to a college party. His name was Minho  and Taemin absolutely adored him and from what Taemin said, Minho  adored Taemin right back which he very well should. Key hadn’t been all too please with it to find out one of his friends were dating his ‘cute’ younger cousin and I wasn’t all too pleased either. From everything I heard about Choi Minho  in the last year, I had never once seen even a picture of his face.

 

To: Taeminnie

From: Kkamjong

 

I don’t like taking advantage of

Teacher Kim. He’s nice.

Did you want something else?

 

To: Kkamjong

From: Taeminnie

 

Let’s go hang out after school.

There’s no dance practice today.

I want to watch a movie. :(

 

I sighed. The good thing about being the beginning of the semester was that there was plenty of time to procrastinate on school work. Even if we were third years, there was nothing two nights of ruthless studying couldn’t fix. Unless you were that kid Taemin always nagged at.

 

To: Taeminnie

From: Kkamjong

 

I’ll get Baekhyun and Chanyeol.

You pay for popcorn.

And if your boyfriend tags along

I’ll kick you. I can’t be the only

one not trying to cop a feel of

someone else.

 

To: Kkamjong

From: Taeminnie

 

You can just cop a feel

of yourself like you do in

dance class. ;)

 

And when have I ever let you

meet Minho?

 

I stared at my phone feeling like a fish. No matter how cute Taemin was, he knew how to be blunt with his jokes. Before I could think of something clever to respond with, my name was called and I looked up to see Teacher Kim giving me a darker smile.

 

“Did you hear me, Kim Jongin? What is the answer to question three on the bored.”

 

I looked at it quickly then down at my notebook. “Brother-in-law.”

 

Teacher Kim nodded and turned back to the board.

 

I slipped my phone back into my pocket and leaned back in my chair. The reflection of the girl that sat behind me asleep on a lamb shape pillow caught my eye and above her, the clock ticking away the time until last period. It was almost impossible to see the thin red second hand as it moved with the glare from the sun now starting to set lower and lower on the west wing where our class was. Just a bit more and I could get a head start on Taemin on the next level of EXO Rangers then we’d go to the movies if Minho  didn’t suddenly call him for an impromptu date.

 

Five minutes.

 

Teacher Kim suddenly stopped scrawling the homework across the board. There was a knock on the door and he smiled going over to it as he talked to us.

 

“I had almost forgotten, I’m to introduce your new Korean teacher before our class ends. You won’t get to have break because we have to do introductions, but you will get to leave early,” Teacher Kim said.

 

Leaving early was fine by me, but a few students groaned wanting out of their seats, one being Chanyeol always long limbed and restless. Teacher Kim just waved them off and opened the door.

 

“Teacher Lu, right on time,” Teacher Kim said and moved aside to let another figure in.

 

Their height said they were male, too tall for a typical girl, but not drastically so. They wore simple teacher style clothes in light colors that fitted their thin curvy frame and walked with a cute elegance to the desk placing a folder down on it. Small pink lips formed a soft smile followed by a button nose and brown doe eyes that glittered, crinkling at the edge as they turned into crescents below a light brown fringe.

 

“Hello everyone, I’m Teacher Lu,” they said, voice delicate, but masculine.

 

Teacher Lu. He picked up a piece of chalk and scrawled in beautiful perfect hangul, his name. Teacher Lu Han. He turned back to us and bowed. Tuffs of his hair fell into his face when he stood up straight again.

 

“I am twenty-two, only a student-teacher at the moment taking over for Teacher Hwang while she’s on maternity leave. I would appreciate your help in learning how to best teach other students like yourselves.”

 

Twenty-two, beautiful, and then I realized it – he didn’t have a color.

 

**(◕‿◕✿)**

 

I use to hate watching movies. The colors of the actors never matched up except in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, but I could have called that relationship years ago. The mismatching of the colors made it hard for me to understand the romantic plot line so I avoided romantic comedies and chick flicks for years. I still avoid them actually, years of having to sit with my sisters as they cried and cussed at the screen was enough for me. I preferred cartoons since voices didn’t project auras and the characters didn’t either, but every now and then I did like going to the theater with my friends.

 

Chanyeol and Baekhyun made kissy noises in the seats behind me and Taemin. There weren’t very many people in the theater at this time and we had picked a movie that had been running for quite a while. Every now and then I could hear Chanyeol pull away when he got excited about what was happening on the screen usually during an explosion. Taemin spent the whole time texting and I threw popcorn at his hair until he kicked me and I kicked back. Baekhyun grabbed my hair to get us to stop and I shoved his head into Chanyeol’s crotch earning an unmanly screech from the tallest of us and a very loud shush from an older guy down in the seats closer to the screen.

 

We left before we could get kicked out admitting we had all seen the movie already. Chanyeol and Baekhyun held hands as we walked down the streets to get a quick snack. One of the pros for gays in Korea, I had always thought, was that it wasn’t weird to be affectionate with another guy as long as you weren’t kissing and kissing was probably why Chanyeol and Baekhyun agreed to go with us to the theater. Taemin was still texting so I headed home first, walking in the cool April air with hands buried deep in my pocket. Colors walked past me and I barely registered them thinking over the day to keep myself from trying to match people together. I could be frustrating sometimes, especially when you saw people of the same gender radiating colors so close with the opposite gender on their arms. I use to think these powers were to be used to help people find their true love, but I had learned from that. Seeing colors was just a glitch in my system that made life a little more interesting.

 

The student teacher didn’t have a color, though. He was young and beautiful and I had seen many of the girls and even some of the boy’s colors flash out in interest while he taught. His voice was smooth and clear and his hangul so neat. Too perfect. It made me wonder if he was from Korea. Usually you only tried that hard when you were trying to be correct. Maybe he had come from America. Lu wasn’t really a Korean last name.

 

Only one of my sisters were home when I got back. Hyoyeon sat on the couch spread out watching some idol show on the television. I slipped off my jacket and put it in the closet then went up behind her and tugged on her long golden ponytail. She flailed then turned and glared at me.

 

“Jongin, I didn’t grow my hair out for you to do that shit to it,” she yelled and petted her long golden main.

 

I laughed and moved toward the hall. “I’m hungry, make me food.”

 

“Make yourself food; I’m not cooking for a little shit like you.”

 

I put my school bag down on the inside of my bedroom door and started rummaging around my drawers. There weren’t a lot of clean clothes left and I wondered who would break first and throw them in the washing machine, me or my sisters. I didn’t think they’d make it until Mom got back. I undressed and wrapped a towel around my waist then went down the hall to the bathroom.

 

“Hyoyeon, where’s Hyuna?”

 

“She’s on a date, college students can do that.”

 

I peaked my head out of the door. “When do I get to meet the guy? I always get to meet the guy.”

 

Hyoyeon started to flip through the channels. “When she thinks he’s the one and then you can tell her she’s crazy and he’s a douchebag like you always do.”

 

I laughed again and started up a shower. The water was still hot and I was thankful for that. Being the only guy in a houseful of girls usually left me in the cold, which could be good on those nights when puberty like to show up, but usually it was just annoying. My sisters were the only ones I still interfered with when it came to relationships. Even if they called me little shit all the time, they were my family and I couldn’t stand seeing them getting heartbroken. They didn’t know about my powers, but I had convinced them I had great instinct when it came to guys so they always let me meet anyone they were thinking of being serious with. If little brother didn’t approve then out you went.

 

Though it was probably more of, if the only male doesn’t approve then tough luck.

 

My parents divorced before I had even started school. My mother’s was the first aura I had ever seen, a bright yellow one like the sun, a color Hyoyeon shared to a close degree. My dad’s had been navy. Hyuna’s color was close to what I remember his being. I didn’t remember him ever really being around once I had started to talk; I only remember his arms when I was a baby. He was a doctor and there was a pretty younger nurse with a darker navy blue aura. I still think it was my fault he started the affair with her. I mentioned they looked good together once when Hyuna had to go to the hospital so I went with him to work. I didn’t know were Dad was now, he never called, just sent money.

 

I met Taemin after my dad left. He use to live next door to us until Mom got a really good job and moved us to a better apartment. Taemin was the only one who knew about my powers. That was probably why he wouldn’t let me meet Minho. Other than my sisters, I wouldn’t let Taemin alone if Minho didn’t have the right color.

 

And Teacher Lu didn’t have a color at all.

 

I got out of the shower and stared at myself in the mirror. Nothing, just skin tanner than a usual city dwelling Korean, thick lips, actually quite handsome, but no color. Did that mean I had no personality? My sisters and Taemin would probably argue that. Not seeing my own color had made sense up until now, just a condition to having the powers to see others’. But not being able to see Teacher Lu’s made me have to stop and think about it.

 

Maybe he had this power, too?

 

But wouldn’t he have showed some kind of reaction during introductions today? I stood up and stared him straight in the eye when I was called on in class. Nothing.

 

It was probably just a fluke.

 

There was suddenly banging on the door.

 

“Jongin, hurry up in there or I’m going to eat your stupid sandwich. Hyuna will be here soon. She took selcas with her date. Prepare to tell her he’s a dick and she should just focus on studying. And I swear if you’re playing with yourself in there I’ll take pictures of your sleeping face and sell it to the girls at your next dance competition.”

 

I frowned at myself in the mirror. For someone with a sunshine aura, Hyoyeon wasn’t very sunshiny.

 

 


	2. Orange

**2. Orange:**

**Because that’s the color of fun**

 

            The doorbell kept ringing to the tune of Jingle Bells. I ran out of the kitchen with Hyuna’s waffle hanging out of my mouth and grabbed my jacket before she could finish screeching at me and run after. Taemin’s face greeted me when I opened the door, all crescent eyed and bright smile, one hand behind his back and the other lifted to the doorbell. I rolled my eyes and pushed him out of the way, shutting the door just as Hyuna rounded the corner to the main hall. Taemin grabbed the waffle from my mouth and I bit a chunk off, chewing it as I pulled my jacket on properly.

 

“It’s almost summer, why are you playing Jingle Bells on my doorbell?” I asked.

 

“Well, when you don’t answer me after I call you fifteen times and then ring the bell three, that’s just happens to be the first song that pops up that could annoy you enough to get you out here on time.” He took a bite of the waffle and I snatched it out of his hand.

 

“You don’t live with two sisters, you don’t understand how long they take in the bathroom even if I get up on time,” I shot back. Not that I ever did wake up on time, but on the occasions that Taemin did manage to trick me into waking up an hour earlier, I still was rushing to get out of the house. Now that both my sisters were out of high school, they seemed to take twice as long to get ready to go anywhere, the freedom to go without a uniform and rule restricted hair allowing them to experiment.

 

“I live with Key,” Taemin argued back.

 

I just nodded. Key liked to experiment, too.

 

Taemin grabbed my free wrist and dragged me to the elevator. Once inside, he wrapped his arm with mine and started humming to himself. I busied myself with eating the waffle which didn’t taste so good without some red bean paste or syrup on it. I could feel Taemin glancing up at me every now and then. He probably wanted something but I could barely keep my eyes opened this early in the morning and his humming was nice, it made me want to sleep even more. He suddenly messed up the tune and I blinked awake quickly.

 

“Jongin,” Taemin said looking at me seriously.

 

I sighed and rubbed my eyes with the heels of my palms. “What~~~?”

 

“Let me talk to you about my boyfriend~~~~.”

 

I peeked over at him. He was beaming. I really couldn’t say no to him when he was beaming, white aura a fluttering like that. “Fine.”

 

Taemin pouted. “He’s a horrible boyfriend, he yelled at me when I called him while he was with his friends.”

 

“You yell at him, too when he calls you while we’re playing EXO Rangers,” I shot back.

 

Taemin laughed. “True, true, but he called back later and said a bunch of really sweet stuff. He’s ridiculously sweet; it’s sickening sometimes since I’m not a girl.” He made a face like he didn’t like it, but the brightness of his aura made me know otherwise. I rolled my eyes at him as he continued. “He wants to take me on a weekend date. All weekend with him, Jongin, isn’t that nerve-wracking?”

 

I grimaced. “Doesn’t that mean he wants to take you on a week long fuck fest?”

 

Taemin punched my shoulder hard enough that I knocked into the wall of the elevator. I rubbed my shoulder and glared at him.

 

“Whether we have sex or not isn’t your business, Kim Jongin.”

 

Here came the argument again.

 

“Of course it is you’re my best friend. You should let me meet him before you go throwing your virginity out the window. You shouldn’t let a guy that doesn’t have a color matching yours take advantage of you.”

 

The elevator doors opened and Taemin walked out holding his arms out. “This is exactly why I don’t let you see him. I’m not a girl and I’m not your sister. And you better not threaten to tell Jinki and Key about it, either. It was embarrassing enough hearing them talk to him when we first started dating.”

 

I stuffed my hands into my jacket pockets and lowered my head. “I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

 

Taemin patted my shoulder and smiled. “I know, but even if all we high schoolers ever do is study, you can’t expect all of us to be virgins until graduation.”

 

My eyes shot opened and I pushed Taemin away. “I’m not a virgin.”

 

Taemin laughed. “Oh, yes, yes, I forgot, you dated the biggest slut in middle school. For a week. I know you, Jongin; you’re too much of a romantic for that. Just because you can’t see your color doesn’t automatically make you immune to how you feel about others having perfect matches.”

 

Perfect matches. Teacher Lu’s face popped up. We were walking down the sidewalk to the bus stop by the time I decided to bring it up.

 

“Taemin, did you meet the new student teacher yesterday?”

 

Taemin had pulled his phone out during the silence. I checked to see if it was a new one, since he had a habit of loosing stuff. A little frog chain dangled down from it. Still the same one he had for the past six months, since Minho had gotten the frog chain for Taemin.

 

“Teacher Lu? He didn’t come to our class yesterday, but I heard about it and I caught a glimpse at him. He looks twelve.”

 

I laughed. Teacher Lu did look pretty young. “Well, yeah, that guy. He came to our class and um, it’s weird.”

 

Taemin looked up from his phone. We were at the bus stop now, still a few minutes until the bus was scheduled to arrive. “What’s weird?”

 

“He doesn’t have a color,” I said staring across the street at a girl and boy in school uniforms for a middle school close by holding hands, both with cherry red auras.

 

“Of course he has a color, everyone does, even you, though you can’t see yours,” Taemin pointed out.

 

I frowned. “Well, then I can’t see his, either.”

 

“Huh,” Taemin said and slipped his phone back into his pocket. “So you can’t see it. Well,” he turned to me and grinned, “that would be a really strange pairing.”

 

My eyebrows furrowed. “Are you saying you think I can’t see it because his color’s close to mine?”

 

Taemin shrugged. “Or it could just be a fluke. Try talking to him. If you don’t seem interested then it’s just a fluke, if you are, have fun with your student teacher relationship. Key told me desk sex was amazing.”

 

The bus rolled down the street toward us. It stopped and opened the doors.

 

“Hey,” I said grabbing Taemin’s shoulder before he got on, “have you had desk sex?”

 

Taemin grabbed my hand removing it from his shoulder and grinned, nose wrinkling. “I’m not telling~~~.”

 

He jumped on the bus and I scrambled after him. “Yah, Lee Taemin!”

 

**(◕‿◕✿)**

 

We had an assembly the last couple periods of the day. Teacher Kim continued on with his lecture after telling us at the beginning of class, scrawling notes for us to take down on the board. He shouldn’t have. The part of the class that wasn’t fighting off sleep was anxiously tapping their feet under the tables, fiddling with their pencils or just blatantly playing on their phones. Teacher Kim only took up one phone a day and he had already confiscated that kid at the front of the class Taemin always beat up that morning so he ignored the rest. I wish he wouldn’t. The excited flaring colors of my fellow students gave me a headache and with my luck, Teacher Kim would decide to use me as the example today if I closed my eyes to try and control the headache. I really hated school in times like these, or any big event.

 

Baekhyun kept glancing back at me, throwing notes onto my desk out of boredom that I hardly ever replied to. Usually the last group of notes were threats to stop being my friend because I was ‘the worstest best friend ever’. I wasn’t going to deny that. I often questioned why I was friends with them especially when Chanyeol made that stupid face like he was now when Teacher Kim called on him. Well, they were sort of interesting.

 

The bell rang and Teacher Kim put down his chalk then turned to us. “Well now, Teacher Lu will be the one escorting you to the auditorium. Don’t run off and give him a hard time when he hasn’t even gotten the proper chance to teach you guys, alright. This is only his second day and part of the assembly is to introduce him. Do you all understand?”

 

“Yes Teacher Kim,” the class responded.

 

The class president stood up, AKA: The Girl Always Asleep Behind Me. We bowed as Teacher Kim left. Only a couple minutes later, Teacher Lu appeared and I was struck again by his clear form. There was no color to obstruct what he looked like, long thin body covered by a fitted blazer and slacks, light colored hair, face that looked like it belonged to a middle school student. Some of the girls giggled at the girl behind stuttered when she led our greetings.

 

Teacher Lu laughed softly. “Thank you, but I’m still a student, too, so the formal introduction’s a little odd. How about you just do it at the end?”

 

He pulled out a roll sheet and started to call out our names. When ‘Kim Jongin’ flowed from his lips I froze. He hadn’t called us the day before, we had done that ourselves, so it was the first time I’d heard him say my name.

 

“Kim Jongin? You’re here aren’t you?”

 

“Here,” I said voice a little louder than I would have liked.

 

Teacher Lu laughed again. The low preen in the sound in the sound made a shiver run down my spine and I wondered if his color might be something like red or pink with how the girls’ colors close to me fluttered.

 

“Yes, speak up like that so I don’t miss you next time. That would be bad to come to class and have sat through all the boring stuff only to be counted absent.”

 

There was a wave of laughter from the rest of the class and I shuffled down in my seat, crossing my arms. He was kind of mean.

 

Teacher Lu finished the roll and gathered his stuff. “Alright class, if you’ll follow me to the auditorium. You can stop by the vending machines, but I’ll be taking roll in fifteen minutes so make sure you’re in your seat or I’ll have to send Teacher Wu after you.”

 

A shiver went through the class at the mention of the junior year English teacher. We stood from our seats, some grabbing a few things to pass the assembly with, and headed out of the class after Teacher Lu. I saw Chanyeol and Baekhyun run off together somewhere and rolled my eyes. I didn’t see Taemin anywhere, but our class came right after his. If I was going to sit with friends, I had rather not wait around for the two flirty idiots, so I moved closer to Teacher Lu. Taemin could move to the end of his class and I could sit close to him that way.

 

My classmates started thinning out at the front, moving to lag behind as other classes joined the throng. Somehow I ended up right behind Teacher Lu. I stared down his form. It was nice being able to see someone without their aura outlining their body and Teacher Lu had a fairly nice shaped body kind of like Taemin’s. I wondered if maybe he danced. Thinking of Taemin, his suggestion that morning tugged at the back of my mind. Should I try talking to Teacher Lu? There had to be a reason I couldn’t see his colors, might as well start with one of the theories.

 

Teacher Lu suddenly turned his head. His doe brown eyes caught mine and slowly crinkled. He smiled and turned back forward. I swallowed and took larger steps until I was matching his pace beside him.

 

“Teacher Lu,” I said.

 

He turned to me. “What is it, Jongin ssi?”

 

“You can just call me Jongin,” I said. “You’re our teacher and you’re not that much older than me.”

 

Teacher Lu nodded. “That’s right. What is it then, Jongin?”

 

I licked my lips. I couldn’t remember what I had asked those couple girls that I dated in middle school in order to start dating. And two, Teacher Lu was a teacher and a guy. And it wasn’t like I was trying to date him, just know him a little better, figure out why I couldn’t see his aura. “How is student teaching going?”

 

“Well, I haven’t really gotten to do much with it, but I think it’ll go fine. The students here seem sweet.”

 

I nodded. “There’s only a couple classes that really cause any trouble, but I don’t think they’ll give them to you.”

 

Teacher Lu chuckled. “That’s a relief.”

 

“Um, why do you want to be a teacher?” I asked.

 

Teacher Lu hummed. “Well, it’s more like I just wanted to come to Korea and teaching seemed like a good way to get here, plus I can learn more about the culture here by teaching.”

 

“You’re not from Korea?”

 

“Why, did my last name sound Korean?” He shot me an amused glance and I wracked my brain for all the last names I’d ever heard.

 

“No, I guess not. It sounds Chinese. Is that why you write and speak so perfectly?”

 

Teacher Lu laughed. “Perfectly? I doubt that. I just want to make sure everything I say is heard correctly and you can read my Hangul.”

 

“I can read it.”

 

He just laughed again and we lapsed into silence as the auditorium came into view. Teacher Lu stopped just before we got to the entrance. I stopped a few steps after him and turned.

 

“Teacher Lu, you’re not going in?” I asked.

 

Teacher Lu started ruffling through his papers. “I will after I do some teacher stuff. How about you go ahead and sit in our assigned spot and you can save me a spot, too.”

 

He handed me a paper. It looked like another role sheet and I sighed with the sudden responsibility all because I decided to talk to him. I nodded though and started in.

 

“Oh, wait, Jongin?”

 

I turned back and felt heat creep up my neck. Teacher Lu was smiling, eyes twinkling. I hadn’t known anyone but Taemin that could smile like that. “Y-yeah?”

 

“Thanks for walking with me and talking. You’re the first student that’s done that.”

 

The flush went to my ears and I quickly did an about face into the auditorium.

 

**(◕‿◕✿)**

 

Even with the assembly, club activities were still scheduled. Being a third year, the first semester was the busiest for me in Dance Club. I bounced from foot to foot outside Taemin’s classroom waiting for him to hurry up with his phone call to his boyfriend already changed into sweats and a tank top. Taemin and I usually changed in our classrooms after everyone else had left, the changing rooms in the gym were always too crowded with sports kids and the bathrooms were full of students changing to go out places after school. Taemin had been called when he was changing and now I was stuck guarding the door until he finished. Dance class would start soon and I preferred to get there early and practice some moves with Taemin. We’d probably have solos this year at the showcases, but there was still the chance we’d get stuck doing a duet again or in a group with the other seniors.

 

Class 3-C’s door opened. A hand holding tight to the latest model of phone appeared and then an apologetically grinning face. “Sorry, Jongin, Minho just wanted to talk to me about a date Friday after school.”

 

“It’s Tuesday, that’s still three days away,” I said and grabbed his hand.

 

“He has soccer games the rest of the week so he just wanted it not to be a last minute thing. He’s actually quite punctual,” Taemin said and pocketed his phone.

 

I shrugged my bag onto my other shoulder and turned toward the hall. “Let’s get to dance class before all the good spots are taken.”

 

“Boa Noona will put us at the front anyways,” Taemin said.

 

“That’s true, but there’s that second year that’s pretty good, too. Sehun.”

 

“I like Sehun; we should be friendly with him. He’s your age, if you had been born a month later, you would have been in his class,” Taemin laughed.

 

I frowned. It was true I was the youngest in our grade minus a couple girls.

 

“Oh, by the way, I don’t know if I can say something like this since I don’t usually, but Teacher Lu is adorable.”

 

I blinked at Taemin then reached out and pressed two fingers to his forehead. “That’s weird for you to say. You don’t call people adorable unless they’re a child or a girl.”

 

“That’s why I said it’d be weird. It felt weird coming out of my mouth.”

 

I knocked his shoulder with mine. “You’re the manliest pretty boy I’ve ever met. It’s hard thinking you’re dating a guy sometimes. And what happened to your phone?”

 

Taemin pulled out the new model phone again. “Oh, I lost my other one.”

 

I stared at my best friend for a moment dumfounded. “You lost your phone you had just this morning? I didn’t think you could ever loose that one with that keychain on it and stuff.”

 

“I took the frog off and then I lost the phone. Key actually made me buy a new one a couple weeks ago so I’ve had it in my bag all ready and stuff, but it doesn’t have a place to put phone straps, so I put it on my wallet instead.” Taemin pulled out his wallet and I saw the little frog hanging from a hole he had poked into the hide of the wallet.

 

“You’re really something else, Lee Taemin.”

 

“You two, are you coming in?”

 

I turned suddenly hearing a voice that had been plaguing me all assembly. Teacher Lu stood in the doorway of the dance studio dressed in sweat pants rolled to his knees and a tank top that fit tight to his body. He had muscle, lean pale muscle.

 

“T-Teacher Lu,” I stuttered out.

 

Taemin glanced at me then pounced over to Teacher Lu. “Hello Teacher Lu, I’m Taemin from your third period class. Are you dancing with us?”

 

Teacher Lu smiled at Taemin. “Boa Noona asked me to help her out. We were in the dance club at college together before I started my student teaching and she graduated.”

 

I quietly made my way past them putting my stuff down in a corner and starting my stretches.

 

“Jongin, do you want help with stretches?”

 

I looked up to see Teacher Lu hovering around me, arms crossed on his chest. I stared at him opened mouth then looked around for Taemin. A girl had already bullied him into helping her, giggling when he got flustered on where he was supposed to put his hands. There was the Sehun guy in the other corner, but he was talking to Boa Noona and everyone else was already paired up. I looked back up at Teacher Lu and nodded.

 

Teacher Lu took a seat behind me and pressed down on my back. “I was talking to Boa Noona earlier. She said you and Lee Taemin were the pride of her seniors. I’d really like to see you dance. I wasn’t the best, but I was pretty good, and I haven’t danced in a few months. I think it’s a weird way to phrase it, but would you dance with me at some point while I’m here?”

 

I turned my head and glanced at Teacher Lu. “You want to dance with me, Teacher Lu?”

 

Teacher Lu chuckled. “It sounds weird being called like that. I’m not on duty right now and the younger kids have just been calling me hyung since I don’t teach them. How about you just call me Luhan hyung?”

 

“Luhan? Isn’t your name Lu Han?” I said confused.

 

Teacher Lu moved around me and grabbed one of my legs. I laid back and let him push it down to my chest. “Han hyung sounds weird, though.”

 

Han hyung. I tried not to laugh, but a grin still crawled onto my face. “It sounds stupid.”

 

Teacher Lu, Luhan, pressed down harder I my leg and I grimaced at the pain that shot up it. He smiled at me, but it wasn’t a nice one. “I said weird, not stupid.”

 

He let up on my leg and I was able to breathe again. I tried not to talk too much as we continued to stretch. There was still some time and so Teacher Lu had me help him as well. I was pressing down on his back trying not to wonder too much about the slightly fruity scent on his skin when Taemin came over.

 

“Teacher Lu,” he said, “Boa Noona told me something and I really had to come ask you about it. Did you really perform with her at last year’s winter showcase in the free park?”

 

Taemin’s white aura was glittering with excitement. Since we were little we had both loved dance and music the most so I understood the excitement and a smile cross my face seeing it, but then I noted something odd while he chatted with Teacher Lu. Taemin’s aura was reflecting a color, just like with mine. It was just white and Teacher Lu’s was nothing.

 

I pulled my knees to my chest and stared at them, stared at Luhan hyung—Colorless.

 

 

 

 


	3. Gunji

**3. Blue:**

**Because it’s both sad and true**

 

            Saturday brought the procrastination of weekend homework and the double headache of having unrestrained lovers prancing about the karaoke room as they sang Jason Mraz’s Live High to each other with unnecessary touching. Chanyeol’s maroon aura vibrated when he leaned in, laughter in his deep adlibbed rap. He stared into Baekhyun’s eyes like he usually did and I didn’t need to see his aura to know that he was more than a little in love with his boyfriend. Baekhyun on the other hand just loved playing. His green aura seemed duller than usual today, only flickering out on his usual favorite parts to sing. I attributed it to the fact it was a cloudy day that threatened rain.

 

Taemin sat next to me leafing through the song selections, the third mic in his hand. He had threatened me into doing a duet with him and having to listen to how Minho was too shy to sing a lot at karaoke when they went with Key and his group, I gave in. Hearing Taemin talk forever about his boyfriend was annoying and not because I use to like him. Definitely wasn’t that. Only a little bit.

 

Baekhyun pushed Chanyeol away when he leaned in for a kiss at the end. “Stop kissing me at the end, you screw up my high note.”

 

Chanyeol laughed and wrapped his arms around Baekhyun. “How can you not end that kind of song with a kiss? It’s a duet between lovers.”

 

Baekhyun pushed him away again and took his seat on the other side of me sipping his drink. “We only have two more songs left after you two. I call a Girl’s Generation solo for the finale.”

 

I rolled my eyes and turned toward Taemin. He handed me his mic and took Chanyeol’s standing up. “I think Jongin should do the other one. You can’t just dance to everything.”

 

I stood up and stretched out my arms. “I like dancing; I can make a living off just being a backup dancer.”

 

“Being an idol is better,” Taemin said and the music started and I wanted to cry. Why would he pick such a sad song when it was a cloudy day like this?

 

Taemin patted my back when we were through. My throat felt raw from trying to rap so much. I could do it, I could also sing a little, but I hadn’t really practiced that much. Taemin always told me I should if I wanted to be a big shot idol like him, I didn’t really want to, though, I just wanted to dance. I shared the next song with Chanyeol.

 

“I’m hungry,” Chanyeol said as he flopped onto the couch.

 

“You’re the one that ate most of the snacks,” Baekhyun said as he tried to quickly pick the best Girl’s Generation song to end with.

 

“I’m hungry, too,” Taemin said.

 

“We’ll go eat after we’re done here,” I said. “What do you guy’s want?”

 

“Are you going to treat?” Baekhyun asked and stood up finally picking his song.

 

I laughed. “No, we’re paying for our own stuff. I wasn’t the one that insisted we come out when it’s going to storm at any moment.”

 

“I want pizza,” Chanyeol said now sprawled on the couch. Baekhyun started to sway his hips with the intro music and I wanted to gag at the way Chanyeol’s aura flared. I hated knowing when people were horny.

 

The music cut off five seconds before Baekhyun’s song was done and he threw a fit as we were ushered out of the karaoke room. It was starting to sprinkle outside and I lifted my jacket hood over my head. Taemin held up his umbrella offering to share it. Baekhyun and Chanyeol were sharing one and I wrinkled my nose at the thought.

 

“I hate doing anything those two do,” I said.

 

Taemin laughed then pointed across the street. “Chanyeol, pizza.”

 

We settled on two different Korean pizzas. I stared at both of them wondering what the heck Garden Special and Sea Food Palooza meant. The one looked like someone put a salad on scone crust and the other looked like cheese covered seafood on bread. I let Taemin take the first bite of each. He handed me the seafood one and we watched with uncomfortable grins as Baekhyun and Chanyeol started on the other.

 

“Why does American pizza look so different from ours?” Baekhyun asked. He had gone with some friends from middle school over the break to America, something he liked to bring up often since we started our third year. It was a horrible week for my phone having to listen to a lovesick puppy Chanyeol.

 

“Who knows,” Chanyeol said and picked off something gooey and red from his slice. “I wonder what kind of pizza they have in China. We should ask Teacher Lu next time.”

 

“Oh, I like Teacher Lu; don’t you think I look a bit like him?” Baekhyun said and grinned at us.

 

“No,” I answered flat. I hadn’t met anyone that looked like Teacher Lu. Luhan.

 

“I like Teacher Lu, too,” Taemin said. “He goes to our dance club sometimes. He even did a dance with Jongin.”

 

“You danced with him?” Chanyeol asked. “I bet all the girls were jealous, they say he’s pretty hot.”

 

I flicked off a piece of corn from my pizza wondering where it had come from. I had danced with Luhan and it was nerve wrecking. Unlike dancing with Taemin and other classmates, I didn’t have colors to move with, just his body, follow every tense flick of his muscles and it was difficult to stare and move. “Luhan’s good, I like dancing with him.”

 

“Luhan?” Baekhyun said.

 

I looked up startled. “Oh…he said I could call him that outside of class.”

 

“And you actually do?” Chanyeol laughed. “You’re usually a lot stricter when it comes to your relationships with teachers.”

 

I stared at my pizza again. Luhan wasn’t really a teacher, he was a student teacher. By the time he was a full fledged teacher, I wouldn’t be a student anymore. “He’s not really a teacher.”

 

Baekhyun hummed and started leaning toward me. “My dear Jongin, if I didn’t know you were straight, I’d say you had a crush on him like all the girls.”

 

Crush? I felt heat rising up my neck. “I’m not straight.”

 

Taemin chuckled. “You guys didn’t know? Jongginie here is pansexual, he dates who he wants.”

 

I supposed that was what you would call it. I had only dated girls because they were the ones that asked me out, but I had crushed on Taemin. Bisexual didn’t seem like the right word, if I like the person, I like them. I’d seen enough colors to know not to be picky with things like genders.

 

“Oh, then he really does have a crush on Teacher Lu,” Chanyeol pointed out.

 

“I do not.”

 

“Do, too.”

 

I kicked Chanyeol under the table. “Do not!”

 

**(◕‿◕✿)**

 

Taemin’s umbrella was useless once it actually started to pour outside. It was probably somewhere on the highway by now with hot strong the winds were when we parted with Chanyeol and Baekhyun after devouring two more pizzas with more American traditional toppings. The umbrella had flown off with a particularly strong gust of wind right after Taemin had opened it. We didn’t even get a chance to huddle under it for measly protection before we scrambled to his apartment and into a chilly elevator. We immediately started stripping off our soaked clothes inside his doorway.

 

“Fuck, what are you guys doing?”

 

I looked up to see Key just emerging from the kitchen covering his face sporadically with his hands. His rainbow aura was spiking out everywhere and I had to blink my eyes a million times before I could look at him properly. Then I looked between us.

 

“K-Key…it’s raining,” I said.

 

Taemin rolled his eyes and just kept stripping before moving past Key patting his shoulder. I couldn’t help stare after him at his round bubble butt. When I looked up I was met with key’s glare.

 

“You better not attack him while your clothes are drying.” He moved forward to gather Taemin wet clothes soaking into the ground.

 

“Not interested,” I said and quickly finished stripping.

 

Key slapped my butt as I hurried past him. I yelped and looked around to give him a glare of my own, but he’d already disappeared into the laundry room. Taemin’s bedroom was at the end of the hall and I hugged myself as I hurried to it. Jinki worked until late on weekends and I was glad it was Key that had caught us stripping and not Taemin’s brother. It wasn’t the first time we’d seen each other naked or anything growing up together, but Jinki was, despite his usual nice nature, the type to act first and ask later.

 

Taemin threw pants at me when I walked in. I pulled them off my face and held them out. They were a baggy pair of sweatpants he sometimes wore to dance class. I slipped them on without a second thought and joined him in front of his computer already with a second keyboard and mouse and screen at the ready.

 

“Shouldn’t we do homework first?” I asked, but grinned as I took the second mouse in hand.

 

“It’s Saturday. Do you want to study boring calculus equations or beat my ass in EXO Rangers?”

 

It was only thirty minutes before one of us died—Taemin because his phone rang. Taemin pulled his phone out of his pocket, a slightly difficult task with the larger upgrade, and smiled at the caller id. He let the ringing stop then sent a quick text message before smiling at me to excuse himself so he could talk in private out in the hallway. I leaned back in Taemin’s extra desk chair and stared at the half torn off glow in the dark stars we had bullied Key into putting up for us in fifth grade only to attempt to tear down tree months later when a ‘friend’ said only girls had stars on their ceilings. I closed my eyes and tried to remember how they use to look when we had still innocent sleepovers with girls on his floor, how they looked when I thought I liked Taemin. It wasn’t much different from now.

 

I opened my eyes and glanced around Taemin’s room. It was similar to my own minus Chelsea paraphernalia, but there was a small football trophy on Taemin’s desk that Minho had given him when they first started dating. Taemin’s only window was uncovered and I could see the heavy rain pelting against the sky already dark by now. Chanyeol and Baekhyun had probably gone on a date after leaving us and since it was dark they either were at a club or in Baekhyun’s room making out or doing more. I didn’t know how far they’d gotten in their six months. I didn’t know how far Taemin had gone with Minho in their one year. How many boys had my sisters had sex with before introducing me to them? Did my mom have any workmates to share sheets with on her business trips? Was Dad still married to that nurse?

 

Thunder suddenly rumbled and I jumped falling out of the chair and onto Taemin’s carpeted floor with a loud thump. I saw lightning flash outside Taemin’s window before I heard his laughing. I didn’t bother getting up, just let the red flush creep up my neck until Taemin was finished pointing and laughing at me. He appeared above me and reached a hand down. I glared at it before taking it.

 

“You scare too easily,” Taemin said and took a seat on his bed, crinkling the light blue striped sheets Key had probably flattened out the moment Taemin had left earlier that day.

 

“Startle, not scare,” I corrected and took a seat beside him, pulling a leg up to rest my head on and studied him. He looked younger in just shorts and a tank top, hair still a bit damp from the rain, but there was a blush on his cheeks that hadn’t been there when he left to talk on his phone. “Something good happened.”

 

Taemin nodded playing with his phone in his lap. “We were just talking. Minho, he’s had other relationships, but they didn’t last this long. I’ve only gone on dates and other than you, he was my first kiss.”

 

I blushed remembering the dare, but waved it off. “And?”

 

“Well, I don’t know how to say this without sounding crude, but…I gave him a blow job on our date yesterday.”

 

I widened my eyes. “That was not not being crude.”

 

Taemin laughed and scratched his cheek. “Sorry, but he said I was really good and sounded really embarrassed about it. Chanyeol and Baekhyun have already done that much and they’ve been dating a lot shorter.”

 

“They move too fast, those two.”

 

Taemin hummed then moved one of his hands to mine, holding it. “You worry about them because their colors don’t match the way you expect them to.”

 

I frowned. Taemin didn’t like when I told him about people’s colors not matching, but when we saw old couples being loving together on the streets or even our own grandparents, their colors were so close together, and they matched my theory. “They’ll break up eventually; I just hope they’ll still be friends.”

 

Taemin nodded and squeezed my hand. “What about you? If you want everyone else to go by your color theory, then shouldn’t you?”

 

I looked at Taemin curiously. “What do you mean?”

 

“Teacher Lu, or was it Luhan. You said he didn’t have a color, maybe that’s because his color’s too close to yours so you can’t see it.”

 

“That doesn’t mean anything if I’m not attracted to him at all. He could have the opposite color of mine.”

 

Taemin wiggled a finger of his free hand at me. “Which would also match your color theory. I’m pretty sure you have a crush on him, Kim Jongin and he seems to have a liking for you.”

 

Taemin’s hands squeezed mine again and I turned it palm up so he could hold it properly, but I turned my head away so he wouldn’t see my face. “You’re not making any sense.”

 

I didn’t dislike Luhan hyung.

 

**(◕‿◕✿)**

 

The sky was blue when Key kicked me out of their apartment. I slept over, curled up next to Taemin on his bed. Even after years of doing so, Key still freaked out when, in the morning, I was curled around like a koala a half naked or even naked Taemin. I’d long since gotten over my best friend’s habit of taking off his clothes in the middle of the night and it was starting to get hotter so I could understand his need to cool off. I just liked cuddling when I was asleep. Maybe it was from sleeping in my mom’s bed for years after the divorce, her long fingers combing through my hair when she couldn’t sleep.

 

I stretched my arms above my head reaching for the bright cloud spotted sky. It was refreshing after the day of storms yesterday. I took a couple of steps forward still looking up at the sky and felt my pant leg suddenly get soaked through. There were still large water puddles on the ground. I shook my leg and sighed. There was still quite a bit to walk before I got home.

 

Taemin texted me half way there wondering where I’d gone. He’s slept through Key’s ranting, but Jinki had gotten up and the moment I heard his footsteps, I’d shot out of bed and went looking for my clothes. I texted him back that I’d gotten run out and he should sleep at Minho’s house for a night, his boyfriend would surely enjoy the present he got in the morning.

 

Taemin called me a butthead.

 

It was Sunday which meant no class or extracurricular and rush hour homework that night. I wondered what teachers did on Sundays. Did they go to school and grade papers, or did they do the same things their students did? Did they go on dates? I wondered if Luhan had a date today. He was a student teacher, and he didn’t teach all the senior Korean classes. I figured he must have time to do the things he liked. He probably had a girlfriend even. A guy as good looking as him was definitely taken. I laughed to myself. Taemin and Baekhyun were idiots. There was no way I could like Luhan, it wasn’t my policy to like someone who was already taken. That didn’t necessarily stop them from liking me, though.

 

My first girlfriend in the first year of middle school was a sweet girl, if not a bit playful. She liked skinship, particularly skinship between friends. She was the one who had dared me to kiss Taemin that one day. It lasted a few months before I broke up with her after I found out she was obsessed with shipping certain kpop bands, not that that was a bad thing (some band members did have very similar colors), I just happened across one of her ‘original stories’. I’d read better in Hyuna’s romance novels. She was also a bit of a sasaeng fan.

 

My second girlfriend gave me a hand job. It was eighth grade and I was a bit desperate when kids had started to bully Taemin and me being ‘too’ close. Even if Taemin was gay and I didn’t particularly care about gender, it wasn’t a good idea for such things to be revealed until we were adults and could handle ourselves, could run away. So I started talking to the most popular girl in school and one of the few to be known amongst the students to not be a virgin. She had a boyfriend and I didn’t mean for her to like me only to get people off our backs. Flirting was one thing, getting pushed into a bathroom stall by a girl and then having his shove her hand down your pants was another. We dated for a week then I broke it off.

 

I reached the apartment building when the blue of the sky started giving way to gray again. It was sad how it only lasted so long, but it was only a few months until the rainy season anyways. I took the elevator with an elderly lady that lived down the hall from us. She smiled and patted my head like she use to do when I was still shorter than her. I didn’t know her name, but she use to think Taemin was my girlfriend when he had the long hair and would give him candy. Taemin didn’t like her much. When I got inside our apartment, I heard crying. I peaked into the living room to see Hyoyeon holding Hyun to her chest.

 

“What happened?” I asked standing off to the side. I hated when they cried.

 

Hyuna pulled herself from Hyoyeon’s chest and turned to me, mascara running down from her red eyes. “You’re a little shit, you know that. Why are you always right?”

 

I blinked confused and looked to Hyoyeon.

 

Hyoyeon sighed. “She didn’t listen when you said the guy she was dating looked like a douche bag.”

 

I sighed. “Hey, it’s not my fault. I’m a guy; I can tell if a guy has good or bad intentions. I told you he wasn’t right for you and he did look like a douche.”

 

Hyuna reached behind her and threw a pillow at me. I barely had time to sidestep it. “Why do you always have to be right? Why can’t I have a boyfriend that lasts more than a couple weeks? All I hear is your stupid voice in the back of my head saying ‘he’s not right for you, he’s not right’ and then I get all flustered and double analyze every little thing they do so they get angry with me.”

 

I frowned. I never told her to analyze them. She should just break up with them right after I tell her they’re not good. Why were people so stubborn?

 

“I was just telling you what was good for you,” I said.

 

Hyuna threw another pillow at me. I didn’t bother side stepping. It didn’t really hurt, but I rubbed my chest anyways where it hit. “How do you know what’s good for me? You’re not my parent, you’re not Dad!”

 

Dad.

 

I turned without a word and hurried out.

 

“Jongin!” Hyoyeon called after me. I could hear her bickering with Hyuna and then feet rushing after me. I hurried to my room and tried to shut the door, but Hyuna was strong for a girl.

 

“Jongin,” she repeated, “don’t you dare shut yourself in this room for the rest of the day because of that. I made you stupid breakfast because your friend called and said you got kicked out by his cousin. You come eat and don’t mind Hyuna. She’s a bitch sometimes, you know that.”

 

I pushed on my door trying to get her to leave me alone. “And I’m a little shit.”

 

She pushed back. “You are a little shit, an emotional little shit that needs to be a good little shit and eat his food.”

 

“No,” I said and turned my back to push harder, “I’m a shit like Dad.”

 

Hyoyeon finally stopped pushing the door. It closed with a loud bang and I fell to the floor. She tapped on the door a couple times, voice softer when she spoke again.

 

“You’re not like Dad and you aren’t a dad. Hyuna’s stressed, she’ll apologize later. Do you want me to bring your food in here?”

 

I sighed and pulled my legs up to my chest, resting my head between them. “Give me a few minutes. I’ll eat it even if it’s cold.”

 

“I’ll order fried chicken for supper,” Hyoyeon said then left.

 

There was a sudden rumble of thunder and I jumped, eyes immediately looking toward my window, curtains wide open. The storms were coming again. Mom’s plane in would probably be delayed tonight.

 

 


	4. Pink

**3. Pink:**

**Because you’re blushing**

 

            Teacher Kim let the chalk fall from his fingers onto the little ledge of the chalk board. He wiped the chalk off his hands by patting them together then turned and smiled at us. “Today I made sure to have a short lesson. I think you seniors could use some play time every now and then so I’m ending earlier, but you have to promise to be good for Teacher Lu. You should be nice and fresh once he gets here.”

 

The students cheered and Teacher Kim smiled happy to have made his students happy. He went to the desk and started to gather his books. I turned around and pulled the girl’s hair that sat behind me. She had fallen asleep halfway through the lessons. It was her habit of falling asleep that got her nominated as class president. No one else wanted to do it. She stirred at the slight pain then looked up. Teacher Kim was smiling at her waiting. She rubbed her eyes and stood.

 

“Bow, greet,” she said tiredly.

 

Teacher Kim took a moment longer to look over us with an appreciated smile then left. The room got loud only a second later.

 

“Baekhyun~~~~!” Chanyeol called from across the room. I looked up to see him bounding across desks until he slid into his spot on Baekhyun’s. He reached out and grabbed Baekhyun into a tight hug kissing his cheek playfully. Baekhyun slapped him away quickly, cheeks bright red and green aura flaming.

 

“Don’t do that,” Baekhyun hissed.

 

Chanyeol blinked at him then smiled and turned to me. “Your favorite class is next.”

 

“Korean isn’t my favorite class,” I said.

 

“It is when Teacher Lu, wait Luhan hyung, is teaching it,” Baekhyun said wagging his fingers at me.

 

I rolled my eyes and pulled out my math homework assigned this morning. I had been half asleep so I didn’t remember the way the teacher had explained how to solve it. I wondered if Jinki would help me if I came over with a bucket of fried chicken for us to share.

 

“We’re going to go get a snack, do you want anything?” Baekhyun asked.

 

“Banana milk,” I said without looking up. I was close to not getting a B in math; I’d have to figure this out someway.

 

A hand suddenly shot toward my paper from behind me. It started scrawling numbers onto my paper and I felt warm breath on my neck.

 

“This is the equation for that problem, Jongin ah.”

 

I jumped hearing that voice and turned to see Teacher Lu behind me, smiling like a cat. I quickly looked back down at the paper and over the equation Luhan had written. It did make sense.

 

“Thank you,” I said.

 

Luhan stood straight and reached out ruffling my hair. “You looked like you were going to hurt yourself staring at that paper. I got finished with paperwork of my own and was going to stand in during the rest of Joonmyeon’s class, but I don’t see him.”

 

I patted my hair down, not looking at him. “He decided to end lessons early today so we’re on break until you start class.”

 

“Oh, then should I start class now?” Luhan teased looking around. The students were still on each other’s desks loudly gossiping amongst themselves.

 

“I don’t think they even realize you’re in here,” I said and looked Luhan up and down. “You look like you’re wearing a school uniform.”

 

Luhan patted down his yellow blazer then sighed. “I thought it would look cool, but don’t I still look like an adult in the face?”

 

My eyes traveled up to Luhan’s face. He was beautiful, button nose and large doe eyes. “You look like a twelve year old.”

 

Luhan’s hand smacked the back of my head and he made his way to the front of the class, putting his books down and taking a seat. The students looked at him warily, but since it wasn’t time for class yet, they just went back to talking. Some of t he girls, including the Class President behind me, made their way up to him.

 

Baekhyun and Chanyeol returned a few minutes later and put my banana milk on my desk. Chanyeol sat down first and Baekhyun slid onto his lap without much thought.

 

“What’s Teacher Lu doing here already?” Baekhyun asked handing his soda to Chanyeol.

 

“Wanted to watch Teacher Kim teach,” I said.

 

“Oh, you talked to him already? Sly boy, getting there before the girls do,” Chanyeol teased.

 

I sighed and lifted up my pencil, the one Luhan had grabbed to write down the equation with. I tapped it a couple times and stared at the plastic blue cover of the mechanical device. His fingers were long but then. My fingers covered more of the area on the pencil than his had. I gripped the pencil tighter and licked my lips.

 

“Hey, Jongin, you’re going to drink that, right?” Chanyeol was pointing at my untouched banana milk.

 

I slapped the pencil down on the desk a little too hard and grabbed the milk. I unwrapped the straw and stabbed it forcefully into the drink, sipping the milk quickly.

 

After a few more minutes, Luhan started class. He called the roll and I tried not to slip up when my name was called like I had been doing everyday since Luhan started teaching us. He smirked my way when I finally got ‘here’ out without much of a stutter. Luhan turned to the board and started to write out a few of the questions we had been assigned over the weekend.

 

“Alright, so let’s have Park Chanyeol, you can do number one, Cho Soozi, number two, and number three, ah, Kim Jongin,” Luhan said.

 

I looked up hearing my name. Luhan was staring at me, still smirking and my stomach gurgled. I picked up my paper wondering if I had done this problem right. Usually I wouldn’t care, getting it wrong on the board didn’t mean I would get it wrong on the tests and that was what mattered. Luhan handed me a piece of chalk. I gripped it too far up and ended up grazing my fingers against his. My leg pushed into the desk trying to hurry to the bored and I grimaced to not make a big deal of the pain in front of everyone. I’d have a bruise tomorrow.

 

The girl was already halfway done with her problem. Chanyeol kept squinting at his work and I figured Baekhyun had done it for him last night. Baekhyun’s hand writing was good, but a bit hard to read. I looked at my own book and started to copy it, making sure to double check everything. Chanyeol and the girl were both done before me.

 

“Kim Jongin, you don’t have to double check it so much. You did do you last night, didn’t you?”

 

I turned to see Luhan looking at me with a raised brow. I did do it last night over the phone with Taemin, but that didn’t mean I could double make sure…why was I double making sure again? I didn’t care. I placed the chalk on the ledge and took a step back so Luhan could look over the problems.

 

Luhan picked up a piece of chalk. “Chanyeol ssi, that’s not how you spell this word. Soozi ssi, you forgot your period, but that’s a simple mistake. And Jongin ah, hmm.”

 

I stood there, a hand going to the back of my head to play with my hair. When I brought it back I saw there was chalk on my fingers and frowned. There was suddenly a hand on my back and I looked up. Luhan’s eyes were sparkling at me and he squeezed his hand tighter on my shoulder.

 

“Seem double checking works for you. You answered perfectly.”

 

**(◕‿◕✿)**

 

Letter after letter scrawled across my page. English homework was easy with my mom always speaking it over the phone to her clients. I wasn’t perfect, but I could hold a child’s conversation easily and I knew most of the rules already. Taemin sat across from me at Chanyeol’s kitchen table working on his own English assignment which was admittedly harder since we didn’t have the same teacher for that. Baekhyun was at the stove heating ramyun water at the request of Chanyeol for food. Chanyeol was at the other end of the table with his head smooshed between the pages of his textbook long since given up on his math. It was the usual midweek after school scene.

 

“What kind of ramyun do you guys want?” Baekhyun asked shifting through his cupboard for one.

 

“Beef,” Taemin piped up.

 

“I don’t have beef. I have kimchi, black bean, normal, and one chicken.”

 

“Chicken,” I answered. Chanyeol just groaned in agreement and Taemin pouted in his seat.

 

“I have banana milk and soda, too,” Baekhyun said going over to the fridge.

 

Taemin and I both raised our hands at the mention of banana milk and Baekhyun slid one over to each of us. He got out to cans of soda and walked back to the stove to check the water.

 

“Soda,” Chanyeol whined, peaking up to look for his boyfriend.

 

Baekhyun walked up behind him and placed the cold soda on top of Chanyeol’s head. The taller shivered and whined again. He reached behind him and took the drink from Baekhyun’s hand. Baekhyun leaned over him trying to pull the textbook away.

 

“It can’t be that hard that you’re stressing so much over it,” Baekhyun said.

 

Chanyeol let him slide the textbook away and popped his drink open. “Then let me copy yours.”

 

“I haven’t done it yet. I do math in the morning. The teacher threatened me last time for doing your homework.”

 

“My homework’s different, so I can’t help you,” Taemin said.

 

“You also have the easier match teacher that gives you cheats,” I pointed out.

 

Baekhyun let Chanyeol’s textbook fall back on Chanyeol’s head. Chanyeol jerked, but stayed under the book. I went back to my English homework. Chanyeol was lucky his aura wasn’t a bright color or I wouldn’t be able to stand being around him right now with how stressed the color was, moving in slow, but harsh waves around him.

 

“What are you working on?” Taemin asked.

 

“English, then I’ll get to Korean.”

 

“Did you already do math?” Baekhyun asked.

 

I looked up at him. “I did it during class earlier, before last period and dance.”

 

Chanyeol sat up, eyes wide. “How, you were half asleep during math. Did the President give you her notes?”

 

I laughed. “The President’s worse than me when it comes to sleeping during class. Luhan hyung helped me.”

 

“Teacher Lu? When we went to get snacks?” Baekhyun asked, a grin forming on his face.

 

I narrowed my eyes at him. I probably shouldn’t have mentioned Luhan helping me while they were gone. It was only one equation, but it was one equation I didn’t have to look up, and the hardest equation, too. “Y-Yeah. He walked in and wrote down the equation for me.”

 

“Really?” Chanyeol asked and reached across the table for my books. “Lend it to me; I need to see that equation. Is it the really long one?”

 

“Long one? I didn’t use a very long equation.”

 

Taemin suddenly stole my notebook and flipped to the page Luhan had written the equation on. “Oh, this is like what my teacher gives us. It’s a cheat equation.”

 

Chanyeol made grabby hands at the notebook. “Give me, please, please, please.”

 

I sighed and made a gesture to Taemin to let Chanyeol have the equation. Chanyeol took it and stared at it, Baekhyun looking over his shoulder.

 

“Oh, his handwriting’s so pretty,” Baekhyun said. “He must really be sweet on you, though, Jongin. He’s not even a math teacher and yet he helps you so nicely.”

 

I felt the flush creep up my neck again and buried myself back into my English homework. “No, it’s not like that, I probably just looked lost. He’s just nice.”

 

Baekhyun made a sound like he didn’t believe me and went back to the ramyun. He opened the package and started to drop the noodles into the hot water. Some of it splashed and he yelped. Chanyeol shot out of his seat and ran to Baekhyun.

 

“You okay?” Chanyeol asked.

 

I looked up. Baekhyun shook his hand, biting his lip. “Yeah, yeah, just some hot water, I’ll be fine, go back to your math, Chanyeol.”

 

“You should run that under cold water,” Chanyeol said grabbing his hands and leading him to the sink. Baekhyun pushed him away.

 

“Really, it’s fine, my phone just vibrated so I dropped the noodles to quick. I’ll be right back.” He shut the stove off and left the kitchen.

 

Taemin gave me a look after he left. I returned it then looked at Chanyeol. He seemed sad. Baekhyun didn’t seem much better, but senior year was stressful after all. Taemin moved over to Chanyeol.

 

“Hyung, I’ll teach you how to use the equation,” he said and ushered Chanyeol back into his seat.

 

Baekhyun returned to the kitchen twenty minutes later, his green aura calmly glittering. I had gotten up to get the ramyun when he didn’t return after five, adding the packaged seasoning and some other stuff then set it on the table for us to share. Chanyeol was the first to look up, concern written on his face. Baekhyun didn’t seem concerned and took his seat beside Chanyeol again.

 

“Who was that?” Chanyeol asked.

 

Baekhyun pulled out one of his books then turned to Chanyeol. “Hmm, oh, Jongdae.”

 

Chanyeol made a face. “Who’s that?”

 

“He’s in our class, sits behind the guy Taemin’s always beating up.”

 

Taemin laughed. “The one with Harry Potter glasses? He sits a couple seats behind you, Chanyeol.”

 

Chanyeol blinked then shrugged. “I don’t know who sits behind me, but why did he call you, Baekhyun.”

 

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. “Can’t a classmate call me? Besides, he’s actually one of the smarter kids in our class. He’s the one that makes sure my work’s a B at least before I go copying it over to your notebook.”

 

Chanyeol pouted. “You have a tutor? I thought you were just slightly smart.”

 

Baekhyun slapped the back of Chanyeol’s head then grabbed a pair of chopsticks and leaned toward the ramyun pot, fishing out nothing but small scraps of vegetables. “I can’t believe you guys didn’t leave me anything!”

 

**(◕‿◕✿)**

 

Boa Noona ran us through to the very end of practice. Half the class fell to the ground when the clock struck the hour. I leaned against the wall mirror in the front, letting the cool glass touch my over heated and sweat soaked face. Taemin pressed his back against the mirror beside me and lifted his water bottle up, messily letting the water flow into his mouth and overflow down his chin and neck. He glanced at me then handed the water bottle over. I quickly chugged it down, too.

 

“Noona’s really working us hard,” Taemin said stripping off t-shirt to wring out.

 

I pulled up the end of my tank top and did the same. “Yeah, but I really like this choreography.”

 

“I wonder if she’s going to use it for the end semester show. It’s really good choreography, but I don’t think its something all of us can do together.”

 

“It’s probably going to be narrowed down to a small group and she’s using it to determine who does what,” I said.

 

“You guys would be right.”

 

Taemin and I both jumped hearing Boa Noona’s voice. Taemin pulled his t-shirt against his chest covering himself and grinned sheepishly at her. I patted my tank-top back down and stood up straighter.

 

Boa Noona laughed. “You guys don’t have to look so frightened. Of course you two will be in the best groups as long as you don’t screw up on try outs.”

 

We both bowed.

 

“Oh, since you guys aren’t running off right away, I have a favor to ask. Luhan’s still around here somewhere. He said he'd stop by after he finished his work, but it seems he’s still working. I have a binder I need to give to him. Could one of you come to my office after you've cleaned up?”

 

Taemin and I looked at eachother then at Boa Noona as she walked away. I felt a hand grip my upper arm tight and knew what was coming before Taemin even said anything.

 

“I have a date, it’s Friday. I really need to get home and clean up, so can you do it, please, Jonginnie.”

 

I counted to five in my head. If Taemin had a date that meant I had a chance to get ahead of him in EXO Rangers. I could get home early and start before he had a chance to sucker Minho  into letting him on his computer which happened often.  I really couldn’t understand how Minho  could stand that kind of date. Slowly, I turned my head Taemin. I knew he’d be pouting, eyes wide and pleading. Maybe I should have counted to ten instead.

 

“Fine,” I answered.

 

Taemin raised his hands high above his head. “Yay! You’re the best Jongin. I’ll get Key to make you fried chicken all next week.”

 

The showers were full when I finally got into the gym’s locker room. I really didn’t feel like staying much longer and the sweat was already drying. I grabbed my gym clothes from my locker to wash over the weekend then headed to Boa’s Noona’s office.

 

“Oh, Jongin, where’s Taemin?” she asked when I entered.

 

“I told him I’d do it,” I said.

 

“Well, here’s the binder, it’s just some records for dances we’ve done in the past few years, nothing terribly important, but he wanted to help with possible choreography,” she said and handed me the binder.

 

I bowed and left headed into the school building. The senior teachers’ office was on the third floor at the far end of the hall. I didn’t bother checking my phone for the time or the clocks along the hall, I’d get annoyed seeing how late it was and my stomach was already growling. I finally got to the teachers’ office. The light was on, but I couldn’t hear the usual bustle of teachers preparing stuff. I peaked inside. Luhan was inside in his temporary desk at the far end of the office staring up at our class’ President. He looked distraught and the shaky aura of the class President told me I probably shouldn’t interrupt right then.

 

“Soojung ssi,” Luhan started, “what is it exactly that you came here for? It’s getting very late, there’s no reason for the class President to still be around if you’re not attending extra lessons.”

 

“I’m attending your extra lessons,” the class President said.

 

“I’m not giving extra lessons,” Luhan said.

 

The class President bowed her head. “Your class is the only one I can pay attention in. I work nights, so I fall asleep a lot in class, but not yours.”

 

“Well I’m glad my class has made an impact on you, but you shouldn’t sleep during your studies.”

 

She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. “I don’t care about studies really, I’m going to be an entertainer. I only care about your class, Teacher Lu. I love you.”

 

A love confession. I felt my chest tighten hearing her. I’d never witnessed a love confession before. Chanyeol’s had been when he was alone with Baekhyun’s and I had never seen Minho  so I wasn’t even sure how Taemin and he had really gotten together. We were seniors and Luhan wasn’t a real teacher and only here for the semester. If they were careful, they could date. The thought made my stomach twist.

 

Luhan stood from his desk and came to stand before the class President. He lifted a hand and put it on her shoulder, lowering his head closer to her level. My hand gripped the frame of the door tighter.

 

“Soojung ssi, you’re a beautiful girl, but you should focus on your studies and your entertainment dreams. Getting a boyfriend and particularly one who’s a teacher wouldn’t be good for you.”

 

“I don’t mind teachers. It’s a stable job,” the class President said. Her aura sparkled with hope.

 

Luhan shook his head. “No. I was trying to be supportive, but if I was to take your confession right now how I would if you weren’t my student, my reply would be simply ‘You’re not my type’.”

 

I tried not to laugh. The class President’s aura was a mess and she was probably starting to cry, but I couldn’t really see from where I was. She pulled herself away and ran out of the office, knocking into my shoulder. She turned and glared at me before continuing on. She really was crying. I waited two seconds before walking into the office. Luhan was standing in the same place, holding his forehead with one hand and stomach with his other.

 

“Luhan hyung?” I said.

 

The lifted his head and looked at me with glittering eyes, forcing them to crinkle into a smile. “Jongin ah~.”

 

His voice sounded stress and if I could see his color I knew it’d be dulled out and moving around him like a protective blanket. My heart started to beat faster.

 

I love you.

 

Jealousy started to pour into my veins and heat stung my cheeks. She had confessed. I…I wanted to confess, too. I licked my lips, opened them, then closed them. I waved the binder at Luhan then put it on the nearest desk before hurrying out of the office. I didn’t stop until I was in the next hall over and pressed myself against the wall, hand clutching over my heart.

 

I wished Baekhyun was there so I could punch him for being right.

 

 

 


	5. Maroon

**5. Maroon:**

**Because I’m marooned in this room**

 

            I was in love with the student teacher.

 

I had a very huge crush on the student teacher.

 

I liked the student teacher a little more than as a friend.

 

I just wanted his body bent over the front desk, clawing at the edges as I hammered into him, reciting Korean idioms from the board.

 

Okay, so the last one was going overboard (even if it was true). Mostly, it was the first one that made my heart clench when I thought about it. I had spent all weekend going over what happened after school on Friday in my head between playing rounds of EXO Rangers. I had ruled out the possibility of being jealous as just a response to witnessing a love confession after talking to Hyoyeon who had apparently seen many love confessions herself. I couldn’t ask her anymore on the subject because she started prying wanting to know who I liked and then Hyuna walked in and demanded show her a picture so she could ‘repay the favor’ for every time I’d seen a picture of one of her boyfriends and told her they were jerks.

 

I’d only ever had a crush on Taemin. My first girlfriend was pretty and she was the one that confessed to me. I just said yes and went with it. I didn’t really know how to deal with being in love with someone. Still, I wasn’t even convinced totally that I was in love with Luhan hyung. Love was such a strong word and even though I believed in romance and all that, thinking about it in accordance to myself just felt weird. I couldn’t let the word filter so easily through the raw hamburger meat looking strands of my brain, or at least what little spaces there were for it to leaks that was composed of thoughts of Luhan in general.

 

Every smile, every amused glance, and the teary look in his eyes after the President confessed to him, they all kept repeating across my vision. And they all did something different to my chest. I felt like I was dying one moment then high the next. Honestly, it was annoying and I didn’t know how anyone lived like this. Little kid crushes were just full of butterflies and happiness. I was almost an adult, how did you go about dating someone who was an adult?

 

That was another problem. Did I want to date Luhan?

 

I looked around the classroom. We were in math class with Teacher Xiumin, a name given to him by the students because there were multiple Teacher Kim’s in the school and apparently he’d lived in China for a few years. He was a bubbly guy with a dark red aura who was a little bit too enthusiastic about the torturing subject he taught. I leaned back and watched him scrawl more numerals and Greek symbols on the board, not really paying attention. I jumped when I felt something land on my desk. I looked down just in time to see Baekhyun turn and grab it, glaring across the room at Chanyeol who was giving us both apologetic looks.

 

Note passing. Now that I thought about it, Chanyeol and Baekhyun hadn’t done that until a few weeks before they started dating. Chanyeol would fly different shaped papers at Baekhyun’s desk. A lot of them landed on my desk or in the girl’s beside me hair. He also acted a lot stupider and clung more. I hadn’t really realized it then because they were usually that close, but Chanyeol had always been trying to get Baekhyun’s attention and was still trying to get his attention now.

 

I peeked over Baekhyun’s shoulder to try to read the note. There were just a bunch of X’s and O’s and I made a face before leaning back in my chair. That’s right; I’d need to get Luhan’s attention if I had any intention of dating him. Was there a reason I shouldn’t?

 

Because he was my teacher, but only for a few months.

 

Because he was a guy…why was that a problem again?

 

He was older. I didn’t care about age.

 

I couldn’t see his color. I couldn’t see mine either. That sounded more like a reason to try though. If his color was close to mine, then maybe it was true that I wouldn’t be able to see it. Maybe he was the perfect match for me and it’d be a shame to let a chance like this go to waste. Maybe Taemin was right and I should give it a chance, but how to make Luhan fall in love with me?

 

Another note flew across the room and landed behind me. I turned to see a tiny paper airplane lodged in the class President’s long hair. I fished it out and stared at it. I had to get Luhan’s attention. I turned back around in my seat and stared at the board. I was a student and he was a teacher, how did you get a teacher’s attention?

 

I stared down at the paper airplane then let my wrist flick it toward the board. It landed straight smack in the middle of the zero Teacher Xiumin had just finished writing. Teacher Xiumin jumped at turned to us, small mouth opened in a zero shape of its own.

 

“Wh-who threw that?” he asked.

 

The class looked around, their eyes first landing on Chanyeol who shook his hands quickly in defense then turned ant looked at me with astonished and maybe a bit betrayed eyes. The rest of the class turned to me as well and I stood, bowing slightly to Teacher Xiumin.

 

“It was me. I didn’t think it would fly so far.”

 

Teacher Xiumin chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. “Oh, well in that case, congratulations on making a proper flying airplane. Let’s not do that anymore, though. If you’re interested in aerodynamics, I can print you out sheets on it.”

 

I sighed. This wouldn’t do, Teacher Xiumin was too nice.

 

“I don’t really care about math,” I said. “I made the airplane because I was bored of your lesson.”

 

The other students gasped and I could see Baekhyun in front of me scooting away.

 

“Jongin ssi,” Teacher Xiumin said, “you…I suppose math could be boring to some.”

 

I sighed. I actually liked Teacher Xiumin. “Math’s not boring, you’re just boring.” I grabbed my bag and started for the door of the classroom.

 

“Where are you going, Jongin ssi?”

 

I paused at the door, but didn’t turn to look at Teacher Xiumin. “I’m going to the hall to wait for this boring lesson to be over.”

 

“J-Jongin ssi, if you walk…if you walk out that door I’ll have you sent to detention.”

 

I grinned. Detention, I’d never been to it before. “Good.”

 

**(◕‿◕✿)**

 

The machine kept spitting out my bill no matter how many times I flattened it. I wanted to kick the machine or kick Chanyeol who had insisted I be the one to pay for the drinks today after I pulled that stunt earlier. He had looked near ready to kill me at break when everyone rushed out of the classroom to see me curled up against the wall in the hall. Teacher Xiumin had thrown the airplane letter away thankfully and Chanyeol’s sugar coated message wasn’t revealed to the entirety of the class, or worse, the school. I’d probably hurt Teacher Xiumin’s feelings though. He was a sweet teacher and unless you were a asshole you didn’t mess with him. I’d have to apologize to him later, but at least my plan seemed to work.

 

My bill was spit out for the tenth time and I sighed, leaning my forehead against the cool front of the machine. Taemin was probably already in our classroom holding my lunch hostage until I told him why there was a rumor I’d been kicked out of class. I didn’t really want to see the disappointment in his eyes and there was no way I was telling him why I really got in trouble until I knew it would work for real. He wouldn’t approve.

 

“Are you done?”

 

I turned my head hearing the voice. A tall really pale boy stood at the end of the hall. I squinted and recognized him as Oh Sehun, the junior from our dance class. I leaned away from the machine and tapped it.

 

“The machine doesn’t work; I’d go find another one.”

 

The boy, Sehun, tilted his head then walked up next to me. He pushed all the buttons and shook the machine a bit then pulled out a bill of his own. The machine slurped it right up. Sehun pressed a button and a coke fell into the slot at the bottom. He bent and pulled it out waving it at me.

 

“It seems to work just fine.”

 

I glared at the machine. “I guess it just doesn’t like my money.”

 

Sehun plucked my now perfectly straight bill from my hand, looked at it, and then rolled his eyes. “That’s because it’s too large.”

 

“Too large?”

 

He tapped the little sticker sign above the bill slot. “It only takes the bills shown here. Try something smaller.”

 

“I don’t have anything smaller,” I said and pulled out my wallet to stick the bill back in.

 

Sehun lifted a hand and grabbed my wrist. “You’re Jongin hyung. I’ll buy you a drink.”

 

“Oh, um thanks, but I’m supposed to buy everyone a drink, today’s my day,” I said blinking. This was the first time I’d really talked to Sehun. He always had a sort of prince face on, he still sort of did, but he was nicer than I originally thought.

 

“Your friends? Taemin hyung and there’s a tall one, right?” Sehun said. He let go of my hand to raise it over his head indicating the height. “Chanyeol hyung, right?”

 

“You know Chanyeol?” I asked.

 

Sehun looked away and dug more bills out of his wallet moving to the machine and slipping them in. “I don’t particularly know him, but it’s hard not to see him in the crowd. He seems like a nice guy.”

 

I took a step back and watched Sehun. “He is, a bit of an idiot.”

 

“Sometimes you need idiots.”

 

I laughed, “You’re right.”

 

“What were you getting to drink?” Sehun asked.

 

“Two banana milks, a sprite, and…what was it that Chanyeol wanted?” I ruffled my hair trying to remember.

 

“Coke probably,” Sehun muttered.

 

I crossed my arms and stared at Sehun. I always kind of ignored his color so I could pay attention to his actual dance movements in dance class, plus it was always swirling, everyone’s swirled when we danced, so it was annoying to look at, but right now his color was calm. I stared at it. It was vibrating with nerves, a red-violet, almost…maroon.

 

“Yeah, coke’s a good choice.”

 

Sehun pushed all the buttons I’d mentioned and he grabbed to handing them to me and held the other two himself, one of them being Chanyeol’s coke, hand turning red gripping too hard to the cold bottle.

 

“Are you coming with me to the classroom?” I asked.

 

“You can’t carry all of these safely, can you? I bought them; I don’t want my money getting spilled on the floor.”

 

I rolled my eyes but let him follow me. “You’re a good dancer. I think if you tried to be a bit more predominating, you could come stand with Taemin and I at the front.”

 

“Thanks hyung, I’ll work on that.”

 

“You don’t have to call me hyung, we’re the same age,” I said.

 

“You’re a senior.”

 

I shook Taemin’s and my banana milks getting the bits that had settled on the bottom to mix. “I was born in January. I could have been in the same grade as you, so Jongin’s just fine. I’m not use to people calling me hyung.”

 

Sehun nodded, his head tilted down to Chanyeol’s coke. We entered the classroom a few minutes later. Taemin was already there and he stood up seeing me, but kept from rushing forward and smacking me when he saw Sehun.

 

“Oh, Sehun ssi, what are you doing here?” Taemin asked.

 

“Um…” Sehun started, head still bowed toward the coke.

 

I handed Taemin his banana milk then pried the two sodas from Sehun’s hands. “My bill was too big for the machine. He offered to pay for ours today.”

 

Chanyeol grabbed the coke before I could take it totally out of Sehun’s hand. I saw his fingers graze against Sehun’s pale skin and the younger boy jumped, aura flickering.

 

“Thanks a lot,” Chanyeol said grinning a pearly white grin at Sehun.

 

Baekhyun stood and reached across Chanyeol for his drink, then just stayed there stretched across his boyfriend’s lap nonchalantly. Sehun’s aura started flickering more.

 

“Sehun ssi, do you want to eat with us then?” Taemin asked.

 

“N-no, my foods already in my class, I just came to help deliver.” He bowed to us then quickly left.

 

“Shy kid,” Chanyeol said and took a long drawl of his drink, his other hand playing in Baekhyun’s hair.

 

I moved around Taemin and took my spot on the windowsill. I looked out it at the courtyard of our school and picked up the popcorn chicken Key made me with my chopsticks, popping them into my mouth until Taemin suddenly slapped the back of my head and demanded I tell him why I was a dick to Teacher Xiumin earlier.

 

**(◕‿◕✿)**

 

Boa Noona wasn’t happy when I had to tell her I would be missing dance class that afternoon in order to attend my detention that afternoon. She made sure to know I’d be getting a punishment of my own the next day during practice. Taemin said he’d try to lesson it for me, but he hadn’t been very happy about it either since I refused to tell him the real reason I’d had that outburst. ‘My sisters pissed me off’ wasn’t a good enough reason. They always pissed me off.

 

I’d never been in detention before, after class lessons for extra help, yes, but nothing for getting into trouble, not since preschool where you had to sit in the corner for so many minutes, so I was running late. Detention was held in the fourth classroom on the junior floor right after basic classes. Chanyeol had gone once and he told me you could drink, but no food and the only thing you were allowed to do was study or stare blankly at a wall, no sleeping, no playing on your phone, and no reading comic books. Unless you had Teacher Kim on duty for detention, then he would have you play study games. Maybe Chanyeol had gone twice. I couldn’t remember.

 

I paused at the door seeing who was indeed in charge of detention today. It was Teacher Wu, the junior history teacher. I cringed and lowered my head before hurrying inside.

 

“Kim Jongin, you’re late,” he said looking at his role book.

 

“Sorry, got lost,” I muttered and quickly went to my desk.

 

“It would seem so since you’re not usually one to get in trouble. I was surprised to see your name on the roster today. Badmouthing Teacher Xiumin it says. Take the next thirty minutes to write you apology letter to him,” Teacher Wu said.

 

I opened my backpack and took out my study material, some paper, and a pen. “Yes Teacher Wu.”

 

There was some snickering behind me. I glanced at the window that I had been lucky to find a seat next to and saw some larger juniors sitting a few seats behind me. Typical ‘bad kids’—I could only imagine the horrors they put their classmates through. I was glad Luhan didn’t teach the younger classes, they never knew how to behave. My own freshmen class had been a nightmare. If it wasn’t for Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s socialness and Taemin’s older cousin Key watching over us, Taemin and I would have been bullied more than just snide remarks about us possibly being gay in middle school.

 

I jumped when I felt something it the back of my head. I peeked down and saw a wad of paper at my feet. Teacher Wu cleared his throat and I kicked the wad away and started writing my apology. There was a thump against my shoulder next and I gripped my pencil tight in my hand. Maybe detention wasn’t such a smart idea. Honestly, detention was a little much for what I had done, too. I’d have to be more careful next time I decided to disrupt class or I’d have these guys riding me until the semester break when they finally realized there was no use bullying a senior.

 

There was another wad against the back of my head and I tried hard not to whip around and glare those kids down.

 

“You two!” Teacher Wu yelled. “You guys punched a kid during my class, you better be grateful I gave you detention instead of sending straight to the disciplinary board. You would have gotten kicked out of school.”

 

One of the kids laughed and I could hear him tearing paper to make another wad. “Go ahead, kick us out.”

 

Teacher Wu stood. “I don’t think your friend there would like that very much. I’m your homeroom teacher; I know what you wrote on your introductory papers, your dreams and goals in life. Both of you get up and come with me.”

 

The students looked at eachother then grumbled and shuffled out of their seats. Teacher Wu then turned to me.

 

“I’m taking these two to the gym. Coach Choi can deal with them with the roughness they deserve. You clean up this classroom. I’ll be back in a bit and if it’s good, I’ll let you go home early.”

 

I nodded and stood from the desk, putting my stuff back inside. Teacher Wu led the two kids out and to the gym. I stretched my arms above my head and looked around. There was a box like thing in the corner of the room that was in every classroom with cleaning supplies. I pulled out the short broom and the dustpan and laid it across a desk then started pushing all the desks toward the walls. Slowly, I started sweeping.

 

I actually hated cleaning, and growing up with all girls, you would think I’d never had to, but Hyoyeon and Hyuna weren’t big on cleaning anything more than their own rooms, the floors, and the dishes. I’d gotten the toilet dirtier than when I started cleaning it more times than not and found mysteries in the fridge that no one would want to admit to. Sweeping the floor was almost therapeutic.

 

Like a dance.

 

“Yifan ssi…oh! Jongin ah, you’re here.”

 

At that voice, I immediately stopped my twirling with the broom and stared wide eyed at Luhan. A blush crept on my cheeks and I looked down, holding the broom an arms length away from me.

 

“Luhan hyung, what are you doing here?”

 

Luhan stepped into the classroom. “Oh, I was looking for Teacher Wu. Jongin ah, were you just dancing with that broom?”

 

He laughed softly and I turned around starting to sweep again. “I was just practicing.”

 

“Aww, you’re embarrassed. It’s alright; dancing with a broom isn’t that weird. I think there’s even a routine that does that. But, why are you in here, this is detention isn’t it?”

 

“I got detention. Teacher Wu took the other kids to the gym to clean there. I have to clean here.”

 

“Oh, so you really got detention? I heard you caused a ruckus in Minseok’s class.”

 

I leaned the broom against the wall and started pulling the desks toward their right spots again. “I was trying to get someone’s attention. I’ll apologize to teacher Xiumin later.”

 

Luhan laughed again. “Young love? Did you get there attention?”

 

I got one row of desks straight and looked up at Luhan. “Not yet, I’m still working on it.”

 

There were footsteps in the hall and before Luhan could say anything, Teacher Wu was back.

 

“Oh, Luhan, what are you doing here?” he asked, glancing over at me.

 

Luhan turned to Teacher Wu, a bright smile on his face. He leaned in a bit when he talked. “That thing from the other day, I was wondering if you could help me with it.”

 

Teacher Wu looked over at me again. His crimson aura flicked out in anticipation and I felt sick. He placed a hand on Luhan’s arm, pushing him out of the classroom then turned to me.

 

“You can leave now, Jongin. The classroom’s already been cleaned once today.”

 

I finished with the row I was on then bowed to Teacher Wu. I gathered my bag and headed out, squeezing past Teacher Wu and Luhan. I stopped halfway down the hall to turn back and look. They were walking together, laughing, and disappeared down another hallway.

 


	6. Red

**6. Red:**

**Because I’m furiously passionate.**

 

            Class the next day was suspenseful. I didn’t apologize to Teacher Xiumin, but I could see him glancing at me throughout class as if waiting for me to make an uproar again. I just stared out the window watching him teach in the reflection. It was a little harder to understand that way, but at least I could still appear on edge and like I could explode again at any moment. Yesterday was just an experiment, today was the real thing and I couldn’t let people be off guard.

 

During lunch, Chanyeol and Baekhyun were quiet for once, well quiet for them, they still bickered between each other, but they didn’t involve me with it, nothing passing the front edge of my desk. Taemin dropped by to bring me my lunch and a few choice words that basically meant I should watch my behavior today then went back to eat with his friends in his class at the cafeteria. I did my math homework as I popped in the ‘vegetarian’ meal had sent me probably as a punishment. No meat, but it wasn’t like anything Key cooked could be a punishment.

 

Teacher Kim acted oblivious to everything. He was all smiles and questions throughout class and the other kids seemed to almost have forgotten about what I did yesterday. I sat quiet in my seat and Teacher Kim never called on me.

 

Luhan was fifteen minutes late to class and when he did finally come, rushing through the back door of the classroom, stumbling over bags, he was accompanied by Teacher Wu. He took a minute to bow to Teacher Wu and said something in Chinese. I think it was ‘thank you’. Teacher Wu bowed back and waved, smiling. I rarely saw Teacher Wu smile; actually I’d only seen him do it once while talking with Teacher Xiumin last year so it was unnerving especially since I could see his crimson aura vibrating.

 

Maybe he was just happy to have another Chinese teacher around.

 

I slumped in my seat as Luhan made his way up to the front of the classroom. He wiped his forehead of fluffy blonde hair and bowed to the class.

 

“I apologize for being late,” he said, “I was discussing a very important matter in today’s lesson. I’ll share with you the discussion I and Teacher Wu just had over it as I think you will find it very interesting, but first, role.”

 

He pulled out eh sheet and started calling names. When he got to mine I took two seconds longer than the rest to answer and I could feel everyone looking at me. I slowly turned my head and looked at all of them then straight toward the front at Luhan. I figured that’s how a bad boy would do it. I’d always wanted to try being the bad boy in school, it was kind of fun seeing everyone’s auras flicker in fear, everyone but Luhan. (And Chanyeol and Baekhyun, they probably thought I was still just being a dick.)

 

Luhan tilted his head at me, but otherwise didn’t pay bunch attention to my behavior. I sat up a bit straighter and listened to what he was saying.

 

“Teacher Wu, blah blah blah, and Teacher Wu agreed blah blah blah. I didn’t quite understand what Teacher Wu meant about this, but I thought this, blah blah blah. Teacher Wu…Teacher Wu…Teacher Wu.”

 

Teacher Wu was handsome. Girls were always confessing to him since he started last year. There was even a rumor that he’d started dating one of the freshmens who left school for ‘personal reasons’. Everyone knew she was pregnant. A few weeks later she got married to an older guy that owned a bread shop. Teacher Wu never really seemed to care about it and that made more girls like him, even Chanyeol and Baekhyun admitted to having tiny crushes on him last year. So maybe Luhan had developed one, too, if he was into guys.

 

I couldn’t have that.

 

“Teacher Wu, Teacher Wu, Teacher Wu,” I said loudly.

 

Luhan suddenly turned startled by the outburst. “Jongin ah? Is something wrong?”

 

I stared straight into Luhan’s eyes as I talked. “I don’t want to hear what Teacher Wu said, I want to hear what Teacher Lu thinks. You’re going to become a teacher; you shouldn’t have to use other teacher’s stuff.”

 

Luhan seemed flustered. He moved his hand with the chalk hovering over the board to the back of his head and rubbed there, smiling apologetically at the class.

 

“Oh, Jongin ah makes a point I suppose. I should spend the whole class telling you want Teacher Wu said on the subject, it won’t be learning that way. I’ll diverge from here onto the actual lesson. I appreciate feedback like that since I’m still learning as well.” Luhan turned and bowed to us quickly before going to his books and flipped through the pages.

 

He started writing on the board again and I squinted my eyes at the back of his head. There was chalk just barely visible in his blonde hair. I tore a sheet of paper out of my journal. Luhan quickly turned hearing the sound.

 

“What was that?”

 

I raised my hand. “Sorry, the sheet had a crease, it was bothering me.”

 

Luhan nodded. “Quickly wad it up and you can throw it away after class.”

 

I made a nice tight ball with the paper and tucked it away in my desk. Luhan went back to writing on the board. I gave him five minutes before I pulled the paper ball out of my desk and through it at him aiming for the spot on his head covered in white chalk. It landed on his neck and he dropped the chalk. When he turned around, I tried not to slump in my chair like a scared dog. He looked annoyed.

 

I raised my hand again. “Sorry, I was aiming for the trashcan, it hit you instead.”

 

Luhan rubbed the bridge of his nose. “That’s why I said to throw it away after class.”

 

I shrugged and leaned back in my seat. “It was bothering me.”

 

Luhan licked his lips and moved to his desk. He placed his hands on it and leaned forward, staring straight back into my eyes. “A lot seems to be bothering you today, Jongin ah. Is there anything else?”

 

I looked down at my desk to gain more courage. It was starting to get hard talking to Luhan in front of the class. My heart was beating hard in my chest and that annoyed look didn’t feel good. I looked back up finally.

 

“You have chalk in your hair, Teacher Lu.”

 

Luhan’s eyes widened and he put his hand on the back of his head wiping it away. Some of the students laughed, but Luhan quickly shushed them and went back to the lesson. I didn’t bother him the rest of class, just stared out the window.

 

When break came just before end of the day homeroom, I got up to by a drink. Luhan was standing outside, materials still in hand, head bowed downward. I stopped just outside the doorway and cocked my head.

 

“Luhan hyung?” I asked.

 

Luhan lifted his head and looked at me surprised, but quickly straightened up. “I’m glad you came out, Jongin ah. I think we should have a conference. After you’re let out, come to the office.”

 

I shuffled my feet. A conference with Luhan—it wouldn’t be official since he wasn’t a real teacher yet, but it also meant I could have alone time with him. I’d gotten his attention.

 

“I have dance practice.”

 

“After dance practice then. Jongin, if something’s bothering you, I want to talk about it with you.”

 

I lowered my head, but nodded. “Alright, after dance practice.”

 

A hand lifted to my hair and ruffled it. “That’s a good boy, Jongin ah.”

 

His hand was bigger than my mothers, but it felt warm like hers when she got home and did the same thing as a greeting. I didn’t look up until Luhan had already disappeared down the hall. Then, I quickly went and got my drink.

 

**(◕‿◕✿)**

 

I was soaked in sweat by the time dance class was done. I wiped my face off with my towel and set it around my shoulders so I could dig around for a fresh water bottle. Something cold pressed against my arm and I turned to see Taemin smiling beside me with a water bottle in hand just as much soaked in sweat as I was. I took the water bottle and jugged half its contents down.

 

“Hey, do you want to go get bubble tea then come do homework at my house?” Taemin asked.

 

“Why? Are you lonely for some reason?” I asked.

 

Taemin frowned. “Key’s got a date with an old boyfriend, Jong something. I think they went to highschool together or something. Jinki’s on a trip this weekend.”

 

I grinned and handed Taemin back his water bottle. “So you are lonely. Why don’t you just call your boyfriend over, I’m sure he’d be ecstatic to have alone time with you in your house. You could give him another blowjob.”

 

Taemin punched me hard in the arm and I took a step back. “Ouch, Taemin, that actually hurt.”

 

“Of course it did, I have muscle. Stop being a jerk; I actually wanted to hang out with you. You’ve been acting strange lately; I thought we could have a man to man talk in the shower or something.”

 

I looked Taemin up and down and raised a brow. “No thanks, I don’t really want to shower with you now that you have a boyfriend.”

 

Taemin blushed and wrapped his arms around himself. We did shower together on occasion, but we hadn’t since he started dating  Minho. I’d seen hickeys on his neck and even imaging where else they could be blossoming on him made me feel sick. I really wished he’d let me meet  Minho.      

 

I sighed and shouldered my bag. “No, but really, you should take advantage and call  Minho over. I have a conference with Luhan.”

 

“Conference? Kim Jongin, did you get in trouble again?”

 

I grinned sheepishly at Taemin. “If it helps, I was doing it on purpose. I’ll probably stop after today, but I really  have to hurry up.”

 

Taemin sighed, worry crinkling the corners of his eyes, but he waved me off anyways.

 

I went to the gym first to catch an opened shower stall to wash off in. I didn’t want to go meeting Luhan smelling like the deepest corners of the boy’s locker room. The water only ran through my hair and down my sticky body before I quickly jumped back out and got dressed. It was a little after the scheduled meeting time when I finally got to the senior teacher’s office. Luhan was sitting at his desk, tapping a pencil on a stack of files while watching the clock. I moved in quietly and put my bag down on the floor.

 

“You’re a little late,” Luhan said.

 

I took my seat and ran a hand through my still wet hair. “I smelt bad so I rinsed off.”

 

Luhan turned around in his seat so he was facing me and put his pencil in its jar on the edge of the small desk. “I’m a guy, it’s not like I would have minded.”

 

I lifted my fingers to my lips and nibbled on them. That was true, but I didn’t want him to smell me like that. I liked Luhan after all.

 

“Well, let’s get on with it then. This isn’t official or anything since I’m not a real teacher, but it’s good practice for me, and maybe you’ll be able to talk to me a little easier.”

 

I nodded and settled back in the seat. “Honestly, Luhan hyung, I was just being a brat.”

 

Luhan chuckled and shifted through his files. “Yes you were, and had it just been me I probably just would have put you in a headlock and ruffled up your hair for it, but you did the same to Teacher Xiumin yesterday.”

 

“Yeah, I’m going to apologize to him later.”

 

Luhan looked up. “When exactly?”

 

I shifted in my seat. “Well, it depends on how this conference goes.”

 

Luhan went back to looking through his files. I got curious and tried to see in them. My eyes widened seeing my name written on the outside. My personal file—I didn’t understand why he would have that. Most teachers only brought those out for good things or for students who always got in trouble. This was my first strike.

 

“According to what the other teachers said, this is really odd behavior for you. I took a look at your personal file and, indeed, you haven’t gotten into much trouble and your grades range from decent to high most of the time. There’s some lack of participation, but not everyone can be social butterflies I suppose. Really, I can’t understand why you would act like that, even my couple of days of knowing you, I would never expect it.” He was starting to ramble, but all he was really saying was everything I already knew. “Nothing seems to make sense except for one thing I did find.”

 

I froze. The one thing on my file that would possibly contribute to odd behavior was something I didn’t want brought up. “Teacher Lu, please, really, I was…I was just being a brat. I won’t…”

 

Luhan closed the file and placed it on the stack again. He put his hand on the desk and folded them together then looked me dead in the eyes. “How’s your home life going, Jongin ah?”

 

I looked down, stomach flopping. “The same as usual, there really hasn’t been anything different.”

 

“Your parents are divorced,” Luhan pointed out.

 

“They’ve been divorced for a long time, hyung.”

 

Luhan nodded and tilted his head a bit. “You live with your mother and sisters. Do you ever see your father?”

 

“…No.”

 

“Perhaps that’s starting to bother you. You said you were trying to get someone’s attention the other day, is that someone your father?”

 

I could feel my blood boiling beneath my skin. None of this had to do with that man. Why did the guy I like have to bring it up?

 

“Jongin ah, are you alright?”

 

“It’s you.”

 

“Excuse me?” Luhan said.

 

“The person’s attention I want is yours, Luhan hyung.” I reached out a hand and pressed it against the front of Luhan’s desk and pinned my eyes on Luhan’s. His eyes suddenly grew wide, like a deer caught in headlights. I probably looked mad. “I want your attention, hyung. “My dad is happy where he is, he’s with someone whose color matches his well. I’m not the type to break something like that up. But, you frustrate me, hyung, because I can’t see your color.”

 

“Color?” Luhan said and gave a nervous laugh. “What are you talking about, Jongin?”

 

I pushed myself up, standing in front of Luhan’s desk. “I can see colors, the formation of people’s personalities and souls. And when those colors match, that means there’s the possibility of a soul mate there.”

 

“That’s impossible, Jongin. You must be reading too much manga. If you don’t want to talk about your father, I’ll leave it alone, but please start behaving in class.”

 

Luhan backed up in his chair and turned his head. I leaned forward more, getting close to his face and shot a hand out to hold the back of his chair so he couldn’t move back. That deer in the headlights look showed up against and I could almost feel his nose touch mine when he turned his head back. I grinned at him.

 

“You think I’m making it up? I’ll prove it to you. There are only two people in the world whose color I can’t see—my own and yours Luhan hyung.”

 

“What…what are you saying, Jongin?”

 

My blood was beginning to settle and I studied Luhan’s face. He looked scared, but I was sure he could just push me away if he really wanted to, our bodies weren’t that different in stature. Thinking of that, though, a different sort of boiling started inside me and I moved my eyes from his to his small pink kissable lips. I probably shouldn’t, but I was still angry. I breathe once against them then tilted my head and leaned in pressing my lips against Luhan’s. They were soft, a little chapped and had a lingering sweet taste to them from whatever he had recently eaten. I pulled away after only a couple seconds, my heart beating too fast to try anything more with him, but I stayed where I was a few breath links to let the feel linger.

 

“Jongin?” he said softly.

 

I licked my lips and looked back into Luhan’s eyes. “I’m confessing to you, Luhan.”

 

His eyelashes looked really long when he blinked and his hands felt soft when they pressed against my shoulders and pushed me away. I stumbled back and landed back in my seat staring at Luhan shocked. Luhan stood and quickly walked toward the doorway.

 

“Jongin, I think the conference is over.”

 

I stood and shouldered my bag walking over to him. I stopped in front of him and bowed.

 

“I apologize for troubling you and Teacher Xiumin, but I believe I’ve gotten your attention now.”

 

“Get out Jong,” Luhan said, voice sounding tired.

 

I stood back up straight and walked out of the office knowing I’d gone about this the wrong way, but there was no backing out now.

 

**(◕‿◕✿)**

 

 

At home I was met with Hyoyeon standing on her tiptoes trying to get into my face the moment I opened the door. I tried stepping around her, but even though she was shorter than me, she tended to take up a lot of room, her aura being most of it. The yellow rays of sunshine were more like deadly spikes of burning gold fire that were reflected in her brown eyes. I sides and adjusted my bag on my shoulder.

 

“I’m hungry, let me in,” I said.

 

“You got detention yesterday. And why are you coming home so late? If you’re starting to hang around with the wrong people I swear I’ll beat you to a pulp faster than they will with they initiate you or whatever punks do nowadays.”

 

I frowned. I’d forgotten the school would probably call about that, but that should have been yesterday. Maybe it had been Luhan who called. “I had a conference with the student teacher. It was just one detention, I can’t go to detention once before I graduate?”

 

Hyoyeon huffed, but moved aside. “They said you just talked back to the teacher so I suppose you can get away with the experience once, but if anything more happens I’m going to have to tell mom.”

 

I scuffed off my shoes. “I’ll make sure not to do anything that’ll involve mom. When is she coming back anyways? She was only here for a few hours to sleep before she left again.”

 

“Next week I think,” Hyoyeon said. “I’m still going to punish you though for worrying. No EXO Rangers tonight.”

 

I started to walk to my room and waved behind me at my sister. “I wasn’t planning to play it anyways, I’ve got homework.”

 

I took a quick shower and started setting up my work for the night. Math went by quickly. Teacher Xiumin was actually a pretty good teacher. The other subjects weren’t really that hard. Hyoyeon brought me a sandwich at one point that I didn’t remember finishing. I finally got to my Korean homework and stared at the sheet with a correction written in Luhan’s handwriting. I traced the straight perfect letters, almost girly and chuckled when I realized the mistake was the misspelling of the word wolf. It was almost cute and I could imagine Luhan pouting with his nose all crinkled up like a rabbit’s as he leaned over his desk looking at the word sounding it out in his head after having another teacher proof read it.

 

Had that other teacher been Teacher Wu?

 

I looked at my clock. It was midnight and I figured my sisters were asleep or out. I stood up and went to my door, locking it. On the way back to my desk, I grabbed my box of tissues from my night stand and set it down beside my Korean homework. My heart started beating a little faster and I took a deep breath before pulling my sleep shirt over my head and dropping my sweat pants to the floor. The chair’s seat was cold against my bare butt when I sat back down and I shivered. My hand was even colder, starting to sweat when I wrapped it around my soft penis and started to stroke as I read the first line of the homework. I could hear Luhan’s voice in my head as if he was reading it to me. He had a soft boyish voice, almost melodic. I turned it into a whisper, breath ghosting against my ear, down my shoulder and chest, button nose poking against my stomach. I wondered if Luhan was experienced. He was still young and becoming a Korean teacher when you were Chinese must have been difficult so he probably hadn’t had time to really mess around. But would he be shy if I asked him to suck me off?

 

Instead, I imagined his body. I’d seen the tailored clothes he wore and from when he came to dance practice. I’d even caught sight of a nipple when his shirt had slipped to one side while dancing. It was pink, so very pink against his pale skin. I imagined licking it until it was red as I thumbed my slit, precum already leaking out. I’d probably cum soon since I hadn’t jacked off in so long.

 

I read the next question through blurry eyes. I imagined Luhan reciting it as he climbed into my lap, long lashes hooding his doe brown eyes. I moved my hand faster on my length. My other hand went to rub my thigh imagining it was Luhan’s and I rutted up as if rutting against Luhan. I wanted to hear him moan softly. I wanted to see red flushing his neck. I wanted to feel those soft lips against mine and against other places.

 

I wanted them to whisper ‘I love you’.

 

I came suddenly, my stomach tightening and eyes rolling back. I took quick deep breaths to resurface and just sat in my seat numb for a few seconds. When I sat up, I saw the mess I’d made on the desk. It’d been a few months, dancing usually kept my sexual frustration at bay, but there had been a lot and most of it was on my Korean homework. I guess, for once, I wasn’t going to be able to turn in my homework.

 


	7. Brown

**7. Brown:**

**Because I'm a little shit.**

 

            From sunrise of the next day I was in a state of planning. I had told Luhan about my powers, and even if he didn’t believe me, it was important. Only Taemin knew. I really liked Luhan, so he had to believe me. If I could prove what my powers meant then maybe he might try to like me back. But how?

 

Most of the day had gone by and now Teacher Kim was wrapping up his lesson. I’d scanned the classroom a hundred times already looking for matching colors or even opposite ones, but there was nothing and a few kids from the student council were missing like that Jongdae kid Baekhyun got homework help from. I thought about messing with the teacher’s colors, but some of them matched students and I couldn’t do that.

 

Teacher Kim added the period to his last sentence then moved to his desk and gathered his materials. “Remember that next week we’ll be starting prep for midterms. I’ll tell you know that I don’t make the midterm too hard, but my final is very hard, so use this time to drill everything you’ve learned until now into your heads so you can study easier later.”

 

A drone of ‘yes Teacher Kim’ filtered from the class just as my phone buzzed in my pocket. The class President stood and did her greeting as Teacher Kim left the class. I didn’t bother with it and quickly dug my phone out. There was a text and I initially figured it was from Taemin until I saw the number. I didn’t know who it was. I texted back quickly.

 

To: ***-****

From: Jongin

 

Who’s this?

 

To: Jongin

From: ***-****

 

It’s Sehun. I got your number from when we passed them around to use to call each other for extra practice.

 

To: ***-****

From: Jongin

 

Hold on, let me save you.

 

Boa Noona did usually have the top dancers pass around their numbers at the beginning of the year, but no one ever really called me. Usually it was someone less intimidating in skill.

 

To: Sehun

From: Jongin

 

Did you need something?

 

To: Jongin

From: Sehun

 

I’ve been having trouble with my tryout dance for our summer showcase. There’s a move I don’t like and I want to change it. It’s not passionate enough. Taemin hyung said for those kinds of move I should ask you. There’s no practice today so do you have time to help?

 

I stared at the message then looked across the room where Chanyeol had stopped Baekhyun to flirt with him when Baekhyun left to go to the bathroom. Chanyeol’s aura and Sehun’s were almost the same color and I hadn’t really gotten the chance to see them side by side, but I had the feeling that Sehun liked Chanyeol. My chest tightened at the thought of doing it, but Baekhyun’s and Chanyeol’s colors never matched. They’d probably break up anyways. I’d help Baekhyun find someone afterwards. And if it didn’t work then I was wrong and Luhan could deny me as much as he wanted.

 

To: Sehun

From: Jongin

 

I’ll help, but then you have to come with me afterwards and treat me to chicken.

 

To: Jongin

From: Sehun

 

Thanks, I’ll treat you.

 

I pocketed my phone and slid down my seat with a sigh. I counted to ten then peaked over at Chanyeol who was staring at the doorway like a lost puppy. Was I really going to do this? I was a terrible friend. Half of the reason I was even their friend was to see how long they’d defy my color theory. Half of me hoped it wouldn’t work, but then again, how often was I going to come across someone like Luhan.

 

How often could I fall in love?

 

I got up from my seat and walked over to Chanyeol, sliding onto the desk in front of him. He jumped seeing me and frowned for a second before smiling wide.

 

“What are you doing all the way across the room?” Chanyeol asked.

 

I put my feet up on his chair on either side of his body, my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands and stared down at Chanyeol. “I was thinking we should have a guys’ night tonight.”

 

“Guys’ night?” he asked.

 

“Yeah, you know no Baekhyun, no Taemin.”

 

Chanyeol laughed. “That’s what you call a guy’s night? But, okay, we haven’t really hung out alone recently.”

 

“Sehun’s coming, too,” I said.

 

Chanyeol tilted his head, large eyes widening. “Sehun that kid that bought us drinks? Why is he coming?”

 

“Because he’s the one paying,” I said and grinned. “I’m helping him with some dance moves and after we’ll go hang out.”

 

Chanyeol nodded. “Alright, that doesn’t seem too bad. He seems like a cute kid.”

 

“Cute?” I asked.

 

Chanyeol made a hand gesture in the air. “Yeah, he was real shy, wouldn’t even look at me.”

 

I grinned at Chanyeol. “Yeah, I guess. He always seemed kind of conceded in dance class, but I guess he can be cute.”

 

“Okay, okay, I’ll go,” Chanyeol said

 

I slid off Chanyeol’s desk and waved at him. “Make sure that Baekhyun doesn’t tag along. Just us, okay?”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Chanyeol said and waved me away just as Baekhyun walked in.

 

Instead of going back to my desk, I hung around the front desk. Just as I thought, Luhan walked in early. He glanced at me once before going to his desk. I walked up to it and placed a hand in the space Luhan was going to put his materials down on. He finally looked at me again, doe brown eyes glaring into mine.

 

“Do you need something, Jongin ah?” he asked

 

I smiled and leaned in a bit. “Don’t be to angry, hyung, I’m not going to cause trouble in class today, but I hope you remember what I told you yesterday during the conference.”

 

I shrugged and lowered my voice. “It is ridiculous, but it’s all true, me liking you and my powers. You’re the only person whose color I can’t see other than mine. That must mean our colors are similar. Similar colors mean soul mates and I’m going to prove that.”

 

Luhan sighed and leaned back in his chair. “How? I can’t see these colors.”

 

I pointed over toward Chanyeol. “I’m going to hook Park Chanyeol up with Oh Sehun.”

 

“Gays?” Luhan said.

 

I raised a brow at Luhan. “You say that now, not after a boy confesses to you? I heard the class president confess. You said she wasn’t your type. Your type are male I’m guessing.”

 

Luhan blushed a bit and I smiled. That was one relief down. I hadn’t really let myself consider that Luhan might be straight. “Hooking your friend up isn’t going to prove much.”

 

“That’s where it gets difficult,” I said and sighed. “Park Chanyeol is happily dating Byun Baekhyun, but their colors clash terribly. Oh Sehun’s color is almost the same as Park Chanyeol’s. They’re both a maroon color. Baekhyun is green.”

 

“Green and maroon?” Luhan asked.

 

I laughed. “Seems kind of awkward together, right?”

 

Luhan rubbed the bridge of his nose. “You’re going to break up your friends just to prove we belong together??”

 

I looked down at the desk and moved my hand away so Luhan could put his material down. “I’m serious about you.”

 

Luhan looked away from me at the clock behind. “Go take your seat, Jongin.”

 

**(◕‿◕✿)**

 

After school I went looking for Taemin. One of his classmates, a lost looking guy, told me he skipped last period English. Taemin wasn’t one to often skip, but he usually did when he was tired and the best place to sleep was the roof. I walked to the East wing where the door to the roof was always unlocked with two bottles of cold banana milk frosh from the machine in hand. I kicked the door opened and walked to the large cement slab next to the little dormer building that housed the door. No one really knew what the slab was for, probably something architecturally important, but if you put your jacket down on it in the afternoon when the dormer cast a shadow on it, you could sleep like a cat.

 

Taemin looked much like a cat himself spread out on his back, pouty lips partly opened in a soft pant from the warm wind that circulated this high up. His short caramel hair stuck up on his head imitating ears. I laughed seeing his soft belly exposed by his half unbuttoned shirt and slowly crept up on him. Taemin’s eyelashes fluttered, but stayed closed as I approached and took a seat beside him on the slab. I hovered one of the banana milks above him them pressed it against his exposed stomach. Taemin whined and shifted in his sleep. I rolled the milk against his stomach making it wet with the condensation from the bottle until he finally jolted up looking around through half closed eyes.

 

“Good morning sunshine,” I greeted.

 

He continued to blink around confused before his eyes finally came to land on me. His white aura started to vibrate in annoyance as he glared. I held out a banana milk and the white settled down into a soft hum, his lips forming a bright smile as he grabbed the drink away from me. He stabbed the draw in and was sucking the milk like a preschooler only seconds later.

 

“School’s over already?” he asked after finishing half the bottle.

 

“Yeah. One of your classmates said you were skipping. I came to wake you up.”

 

“I had a headache and you couldn’t have woken me up a better way?” Taemin asked patting his wet stomach. “My tummy’s all wet now.”

 

I poked his stomach and laughed then went about stabbing my own drink with my straw, taking a sip. “Not like it’s the first time you’ve woken up with a wet stomach.”

 

Taemin reached over and smacked my arm. “You don’t know that.”

 

“Why do you have a headache anyways?”

 

“Because my stupid best friend likes to get in trouble all the time.”

 

“I grimaced a bit. “I didn’t get in trouble today; you just stayed up too late dirty talking with Minho or playing EXO Rangers.”

 

“Both, Taemin said proudly. “Did you really not do anything stupid today?”

 

I put my banana milk down beside me and wiped the condensation on my hands on my school slacks. “I did something stupid, but I’m not in trouble yet.”

 

Taemin sighed and turned to me. “That has gotten into you lately?”

 

I glanced at Taemin for a second then down at my shoes and slumped forward. “Taemin, I like Teacher Lu.”

 

“Jongin, that’s not even a good reason—oh!” Taemin exclaimed and jumped.

 

I smiled sheepishly at Taemin. “Don’t tell Baekhyun, he’ll gloat about being right. Also, don’t tell him about what I’m going to say next.”

 

Taemin put his drink down next to mine and scooted closer again. “What did you do, Kim Jongin?”

 

“I told Luhan about my powers.”

 

Taemin gasped. “That’s a really big deal. I’m the only one who knows.”

 

“Yeah, and he’s a really big deal to me I guess. He didn’t believe me though.”

 

“Of course he didn’t believe you. I only believed you because I was five when you told me. I would have believed you if you said that banana milk came from monkeys.”

 

I laughed and reached a hand up to my hair. “Yeah I guess. I’ve never confessed before so I kind of screwed up when I did. He wanted a practice conference with me about my behavior recently and mentioned my dad.”

 

A hand fell on my shoulder and squeezed. “He didn’t mean it, Jongin. Teacher Lu doesn’t know, none of the teachers do really.”

 

“I know he doesn’t know, I’m not going to hold it over Luhan, I like him. I was just doing all that to get his attention anyways.”

 

“Didn’t you already have his attention?” Taemin asked.

 

I turned to Taemin wide eyed. “Did I? I thought Luhan was just treating me like a good kid. Well, I told him anyways, and I told him about my powers. I told him I’d prove it to him, prove that we belong together.”

 

Taemin sighed. “You actually think you do?”

 

I glanced over at him. “We don’t? My powers have never been wrong so far. Why else wouldn’t I be able to see his color? Besides, I really like him, Taemin.”

 

Taemin nodded and moved his hand to my thigh, squeezing. “How are you going to prove it? Are you going to play match maker?”

 

I nodded.  “But it’s going to be difficult. I’m taking a huge risk.”

 

“Oh, who are you match-making?” Taemin asked. “Maybe I can help.”

 

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. Sehun had text me a couple times, one to remind me about dancing, and the other to ask me why I had asked how much money he was carrying with him. I couldn’t have him not able to pay for both Chanyeol and I.

 

“It’d be nice if you did, but I’m one hundred percent positive you won’t want to. One of them is Oh Sehun.”

 

“Oh, he’s nice, why wouldn’t I want to help you hook him up with someone?” Taemin said.

 

I slid the phone back into my pocket and stood up. “Because the someone I’m hooking him up with is Park Chanyeol.”

 

Taemin tilted his head to the side and I could see him processing what I said before he suddenly slitted his eyes at me. “Don’t’ you dare, Kim Jongin. Chanyeol and Baekhyun are perfectly happy together. Don’t you dare break them up.”

 

“Sehun and Chanyeol both have maroon auras and I’m pretty sure Sehun already likes Chanyeol. Baekhyun’s color is—”

 

“Green, I know,” Taemin said. “They’re your friends, though.”

 

I licked my lips and turned around. “They are, but don’t you think they’ll break up eventually. And there’s always the chance it doesn’t work.”

 

“And if it doesn’t work?” Taemin asked.

 

I sighed. My chest felt tight thinking about it. “Well, then maybe Teacher Lu’s just a fluke.”

 

“Jongin,” Taemin said, voice sad and strained. “I don’t want you to give up your chance at finding love since you’re so in love with figuring out how it works for others, but I don’t approve of you breaking up our friends.”

 

My phone buzzed and I pulled it out. Sehun sent an angry face saying I was late. I smiled at it then turned my head to flash Taemin a grin. “Too late for that, Taemin. I’ve already started my plan.”

 

**(◕‿◕✿)**

 

Sehun and I were already soaked in sweat by the time dinner rolled around. The showers were cleared by this time and we hurried to them trying to beat the quickly cooling water before it became ice cold. I ran my fingers through my hair getting the shampoo through it as the water rinsed it out and called out to Sehun in the shower beside me.

 

“I forgot to tell you, I invited a friend to eat with us.”

 

“I have to pay for him, too?” Sehun asked, the last part of his words turning into a gurgle from the shower spray.

 

“Yeah, I’m sure you won’t mind.” The shower water turned cold and I quickly stepped out and wrapped myself in a towel.

 

Sehun appeared a few seconds later, towel wrapped around his head instead. I didn’t try to hide the quickly glance I took of his body. It was all lean muscle and a soft stomach that, with a little work, could quickly become abs. He had a nice triangle shape and broad shoulders and milk white skin that rivaled Baekhyun’s or even put it to shame. Chanyeol had always gone on and on about how much he liked Baekhyun’s pale skin and marking it.

 

“Who is it?” Sehun asked.

 

“Park Chanyeol,” I said and watched Sehun’s expression.

 

He lowered his towel and quickly made his way over to his clothes fishing out fresh ones. I smirked and dressed myself then we left meeting Chanyeol at the front gates. He was dressed in normal clothes, snapback and hoodey with tight jeans. He flashed us both a large toothy grin and waved.

 

“I hear we’re getting chicken,” Chanyeol said.

 

“Y-yeah, I said I’d treat Jongin if he helped me out,” Sehun said.

 

Chanyeol tilted his head. “Oh, well I guess I’m glad I brought my own wallet then.”

 

Sehun immediately looked up then away. “No, I’ll treat you, too. It’s fine, I have enough.”

 

I grinned at Chanyeol and moved to his other side starting to walk. Sehun glanced at me then at Chanyeol and stuck himself to Chanyeol’s other side easily. The walk to the chicken place was full of mainly Chanyeol complaining about having to get all his homework done before he was allowed to come out with us because his sister had seen his latest grades and refused to let him hang out if he didn’t have his homework done so he ended up half assing it all. I tried to get Sehun into the conversation, but he seemed content with just staring at Chanyeol’s long strides beside us. When we got to the chicken place, I sent Chanyeol to get us a seat and tugged Sehun with me to the counter to order. We got a large box then waited up there for it to finish.

 

“You should talk to Chanyeol,” I said.

 

Sehun was reaching over the counter for our drinks. He almost dropped the first one. “Why?”

 

“Because you like him,” I said.

 

Sehun turned to me with a red face. “No I don’t.”

 

Sehun’s maroon aura sparkled with nerves. It was slightly more burgundy than Chanyeol’s, but I wouldn’t have noticed if they hadn’t been walking side by side on the way here. It was perfect. I chuckled.

 

“You do, I can tell. It’s okay, he’s gay.”

 

A smile twitched at the corner of Sehun’s lips and he handed me one of the drinks. “Is it okay?”

 

No, no it really wasn’t considering Chanyeol was already dating someone, but where was Baekhyun right now? Not here. We’d never had a guy’s night before and Baekhyun and Taemin were the type to insist they were guys.

 

“I want to see you with him,” I finally said.

 

“Okay, I’ll try talking to him,” Sehun said and took the drinks to the table.

 

I watched them as the chicken finished up. They were kind of awkward at first, Chanyeol just smiling and Sehun trying to find words. By the time I came over with the chicken, they were bickering like brothers. Chanyeol was tugging on Sehun’s dyed hair teasing him in a way and Sehun swatted at him, blush hard not to see on his white skin.

 

“Seems like you two are getting along,” I said taking a seat beside Sehun across from Chanyeol who was spread out on his side.

 

Chanyeol laughed and stopped tugging on Sehun’s hair. Sehun frowned and went for the chicken box, picking the largest piece and digging in.

 

“He’s cute,” Chanyeol said reaching in for his own piece, “how come you never told me we had such a cute dongsaeng?”

 

“I’m not cute hyung,” Sehun said and waved his chicken at Chanyeol. Chanyeol just laughed then winced in pain when Sehun kicked him under the table.


	8. Peach

**8. Peach:**

**Because it's not an apple.**

 

            It was after ten when I got home. After chicken, Chanyeol suggested we take a walk around the free park nearby. It turned into a small shopping spree were Chanyeol bought three new snapbacks and insisted Sehun purchase a t-shirt with a very unmanly puppy on it. Sehun held the bag with his purchase close to his side and I couldn’t help grinning at him. It was kind of obvious he was fond of Chanyeol and Chanyeol seemed excited to have someone to pull along wherever his large eyes took him. I trailed behind them until I realized how late it was getting and that I still had all of today’s homework to do along with the two assignments Luhan had given me as punishment for not turning in my assignment today. I decided to leave them together and Sehun almost looked frantic when I said it until Chanyeol said they should go for bubble tea.

 

Hyuna was standing in the hallway in a long thin jacket and patterned leggings typing away on her phone with glee written all over her face. I glanced her up and down one more time before sighing and kicking my shoes off at the door.

 

“You going somewhere, Noona?” I asked.

 

Hyuna looked up at me surprised then stuck her tongue out. “It’s none of your business. “Unnie’s mad at you anyways for coming home so late.”

 

I shifted my bag on my shoulder and moved closer to Hyuna trying to see what she was doing on her phone. “She shouldn’t be mad at me when I told her I was going out after school today. My dongsaeng wanted to treat me for helping him with some dance moves”

 

Hyuna turned her head and noticed me looking. She pressed the phone to her chest and glowered at me. “What do you think you’re doing?”

 

“Trying to see what you’re doing. Let me see, Noona,” I said and grabbed at her phone not one bit put off having to basically stuff my hands between her boobs to get it. Hyuna squeaked and her hold on the phone loosened allowing me to quickly slip it away.

 

“You pervert!” she yelled and grabbed for her phone.

 

I held it over my head, a good six inches or more separating us without her wearing heels. “I’m not a pervert, you’re my sister. How many times did you stuff my face into your nonexistent boobs when I was in elementary because I was just ‘too cute’?”

 

“Y-Yah!” Hyuna yelled jumping for her phone and blushing. “Give that back to me, Kim Jongin, or I swear I’ll rip up Torres’ signed t-shirt!”

 

I got on my tiptoes and held the phone above her even higher. “One, it’s a signed jersey, and two, that’s the only gift I’ve gotten from Dad in the past five years and I’ll shatter your phone then every signed 4minute CD you have if you even threaten to touch it again.”

 

Hyuna paused trying to jump and looked at me stunned. I glared at her and lowered the phone taking a step back away from her. When it seemed like she was done fighting me, I flicked a finger on her screen to see she had been texting some guy. I handed the phone back to her and her fingernails scratched my fingers at how fast she grabbed it.

 

“You’ve already gotten yourself a new boyfriend?”

 

She held the phone to her chest again. “So what if I have? He’s not my boyfriend yet, but why do you have to go ruin my fun before I even have any?”

 

I put my hands on my hips and grinned at her. “Because I’m your little brother and that’s my job. Hurry up and go on your date or whatever before I decide to tag along. I’m sure your friends would love to have that ‘sexy little brother’ of yours there.”

 

Hyuna growled at me then rushed out of the apartment. Hyoyeon appeared from the living room in sweatpants and a sports bra, laughing.  

 

“You should stop teasing her so much,” she said and went to the kitchen. I followed her in.

 

“I have to tease her, she’s annoying,” I said.

 

Hyoyeon went to the fridge and pulled out two water bottles. She through one to me and I caught it in one hand. “That’s true, but you’re annoying, too, you little shit.”

 

I chuckled and opened my water bottle taking a long swig. “Yeah, but I’m the youngest. You done doing television aerobics?”

 

“It was yoga, and yes,” Hyoyeon said.

 

I poked her stomach where sweat beads were running and made a face. “You sweat just from yoga?”

 

“Get out of here, Jongin,” Hyoyeon said and swatted me away with a kitchen towel.

 

I dropped my duffel off in my room before taking my homework out to the living room. I figured if I was left alone in my room again, I’d probably piss Luhan off by not turning my homework in again. Or I could turn it in, but I’m sure it wasn’t flattering to turn in your cum stained homework to the teacher you liked.

 

I was halfway through with my homework when my cellphone rang. I pulled it out and checked the caller id. Baekhyun. Why was he calling? I situated myself into a laying position on the couch before pressing answer and putting the receiver up to my ear.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Hey, Jongin, do you know where Chanyeol is? I called his house, but his sister said he wasn’t there. She thought he was at my house,” Baekhyun said.

 

“Is he at your house?” I asked.

 

“I don’t know, I’m not there.”

 

I raised an eyebrow at that. “Where are you?”

 

“Jongdae’s.”

 

“Who’s Jongdae?”

 

“The guy that helps me with my homework, don’t you remember? He’s a friend of one of my middle school friends’ boyfriend.”

 

“Okay, well Chanyeol should be home by midnight. I don’t know what more he and Sehun could get up to.”

 

“Sehun? He’s with that kid that bought us drinks?” Baekhyun asked.

 

“Yeah, I was with them, but I hadn’t done any homework yet so I came home.”

 

“Where were you guys?”

 

I shifted on the couch and reached out for the television remote. The news was on and I let it hum in the background. Hyoyeon came in and stole the remote from me then took a seat at my feet.

 

“Sehun wanted me to teach him a dance then after I made him treat Chanyeol and I?”

 

“How come you didn’t invite me?” Baekhyun asked.

 

“Well, from the sound of it, you already had plans with your tutor. Besides, I wanted a guy’s night.”

 

“I’m a guy,” Baekhyun said. I waited five seconds before I heard his soft growl. “You’re not funny Kim Jongin.”

 

“Wasn’t trying to be, but yeah, that’s where he is. Just call him later.”

 

Baekhyun sighed. “Okay. I was going to tell him not to come by my house in the morning because I’m staying at Jongdae’s tonight, but he probably forgot to turn his cell phone off silent after school ended. I’ll call him again later; call him in the morning for me, will you?”

 

“Yeah sure, or I’ll just text Sehun to tell him if they’re still together.”

 

“Yeah, that’s cool,” Baekhyun said, “thanks.”

 

I stared at my phone for a few seconds after Baekhyun then stared at my sister at the end of the couch. “Noona, a miracle has happened.”

 

“What? Did you find me a perfect boyfriend?”

 

I poked her thigh with my toe. If only. “No, I think Byun Baekhyun’s finally getting serious about school.”

 

“Doesn’t he and the kid with the weird eye twitch, Chanyeol, have grades verging on failing?”

 

“Yep, but he’s staying the night at his tutor’s house.”

 

“Well good for him,” Hyoyeon said then grabbed my pant leg and tugged my legs off the couch. “Now, you get back to your homework on the floor so I can take a nap on the couch.”

 

**(◕‿◕✿)**

 

It was Friday and our English teacher decided to end class early before lunch, so instead of waiting twenty more minutes for Taemin’s class to finish and for him to pull away from the girls and other boys that fond over him in his class to bring me my food, I went to get him. I stood outside Taemin’s class, leaning against the wall with my arms and legs crossed. The class beside him got out earlier and I nodded as some of the girls giggled as they passed me. My class was at the beginning of the hall so I didn’t have to worry about passing giggling girls or being ogled at, but Taemin’s was a little further down and I wasn’t oblivious to us being pretty sexy. I could understand why it usually took Taemin a long time to bring me my food.

 

I wondered if I was attractive to guys, though. I hadn’t really thought about it before. Taemin had always called me cute so that was enough back when I had a crush on him, but he was probably just saying that because I was younger and we looked a bit alike, often mistaken as brothers. Did Luhan think I was good looking? Maybe I was only good looking to Koreans. Or maybe he preferred whiter skin over tanned, not that I could really help that part. My skin was just slightly tanner, but it’d probably look good against Luhan’s milky white skin. Pale gold and milk white legs tangling together under…hmm, I wondered what color of sheets Luhan had? Were they childish or super sophisticated adult sheets?

 

“Earth to Jongin, hello~”

 

I jumped seeing Taemin waving his hand in front of my face. He laughed and reached out a hand to pet my hair as if trying to calm a frightened cat.

 

“What are you doing here, Jongin?”

 

I flattened my hair down and pulled off the wall. “Our class got through earlier so I came to walk you back.”

 

Taemin laughed and handed me my lunch. “What a good boy, coming to walk me.”

 

I grimaced and quickly started down the hall. “I was just being nice.”

 

“Of course you were. So, what were you thinking about while you were waiting?”

 

A grin spread on my lips and I hummed. “Luhan.”

 

“Jongin, don’t go getting hard ons in the hall. I can only imagine all the weird kinky scenarios you were thinking of. You might not have that much experience, but I know how you think up all those sexy dance moves,” Taemin said.

 

I laughed and bumped my shoulder against his. “You’re imagining me having sex with Teacher Lu?”

 

Taemin blanched and covered his mouth. “I wasn’t until you said it.”

 

“You’re welcome,” I said and did a twirl into the classroom. Taemin rolled his eyes and muttered something about ‘stupid ballet classes’ before following me in.

 

In the class, I was surprised to see four desks pulled together by my spot at the windowsill. Baekhyun and Chanyeol each had one and Taemin slid into my desk, then there was the class President’s desk pulled up beside mine with Oh Sehun seated comfortably in it. I climbed past Taemin to get to the window and looked at Sehun curiously.

 

“Oh, Sehun, what are you doing here?” Taemin asked pulling out his lunch.

 

Sehun looked up from his ramyun at both of us then over to Chanyeol. “Chanyeol hyung invited me to eat with you guys last night. I bought drinks.”

 

I looked down at the middle of the table where there were two banana milks placed and picked one up. “I was afraid you two might not get along if I left you together.”

 

Chanyeol laughed and reached out, pulling Sehun by the shoulder closer to him. “What are you talking about, we get along great. I’ve always wanted an adorable dongsaeng.”

 

“I’m younger than you, what does that make me?” I asked.

 

Baekhyun reached out and patted my knee. “Chanyeol can’t call you adorable because he’s jealous you’re sexier than him.”

 

“Hey!” Chanyeol said and let go of Sehun to pinch his boyfriend.

 

Baekhyun just laughed and swatted Chanyeol away.

 

Chanyeol settled back in his seat and picked at what little was left of his food. “Hey, why didn’t you invite that tutor of yours to eat with us? You spent the night at his house, right? I got Jongin’s text through Sehun. How come you didn’t call me?”

 

Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol surprised, chopsticks stuck between his lips. “Your phone was on silent, right? I called you once after school when I was headed there and you didn’t pick up. And Jongdae eats in the cafeteria; you can’t bring that food in here.”

 

“It was only off while I was doing my homework after school. I turned it back on later. I thought you’d call again if it was something important.”

 

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. “I just called to make sure you did your homework and then I decided to stay the night. I didn’t know you were going out yesterday.”

 

“You said you were going to be busy after school so I didn’t think it mattered,” Chanyeol said and took a long swig of his drink.

 

Taemin kicked me under the desk and pulled me down to whisper in my ear. “They’re fighting.”

 

“They bicker all the time,” I whispered back.

 

“I know this is your doing, fix it right now. Sehun looks uncomfortable.”

 

I sighed. It wasn’t like I was trying to make Chanyeol and Baekhyun fight, just break up. Sehun did look uncomfortable, though, glaring at Baekhyun like some kind of disgusting worm. It was a bit amusing.

 

“Oh, Sehun, you bought something yesterday, didn’t you? I didn’t look at it properly.”

 

Sehun instantly went red at the reminder of the ridiculous puppy shirt Chanyeol and conned him into purchasing. Chanyeol laughed and went back to hanging an arm around Sehun’s shoulders.

 

“Oh, I got him to buy this adorable puppy shirt. I thought it suited him because he’s so cute,” Chanyeol said and poked Sehun’s cheek.

 

Sehun frowned and turned in his seat to poke Chanyeol’s cheek back, eyes meeting the elder’s. “I think you should wear it, hyung, you’re more a puppy than me.”

 

Chanyeol blinked a few times, eye contact lasting more than a few seconds. He laughed nervously and pulled back, aura swirling softly around him. “Nah, I’m not cute like one.”

 

Sehun was about to say something when someone suddenly stepped up to our little group.

 

I looked up to see Luhan standing there in a loose dress shirt, but tight fitting slacks and a cute bowtie. He glanced around at everyone then let his eyes land on me, glaring a bit. “Jongin ah, come talk to me for a second.”

 

I grimaced and stuffed a piece of kimbap into my mouth before sliding off the windowsill and following Luhan into the hall. We didn’t go far, just to the other side where there weren’t any classes.

 

“I want another conference with you,” Luhan said.

 

“Why?” I asked, stuffing my hands in my blazer jacket.

 

“I looked through your files again and I made a mistake last time. I shouldn’t have brought up your father and I apologize. That’s probably why you acted out like that.”

 

I frowned more and tried to summon up the courage to look Luhan in the eye. “I got mad, yeah, but that’s not why I…kissed you…or why I told you about my powers. If you want to talk more about it, Boa Noona is only working with the freshmen today so we can have a conference after school.”

 

Luhan was biting his lips trying to think of how to respond to that. I had to turn away to not think about what it would feel like to nibble on his lip, as well. I bowed quickly.

 

“If you don’t mind, I’ll be going back to finish my meal.”

 

When I slid back on the windowsill, I noticed two things. One, Sehun was fighting not to laugh as Chanyeol forced him into a headlock to ruffle up his hair. And two, Baekhyun’s green aura was sporadic as he stared down at his phone.

 

**(◕‿◕✿)**

 

I waited until everyone had disappeared from the classroom before gathering my belongings and heading up to the teachers’ office. There were still a few kids hanging about, Friday leaving them no need to rush home right away. I sighed and tried to steady my heart. Other than not turning in my homework that one time, I hadn’t done anything more to bother the teachers. Certainly Luhan wouldn’t be angry with him just for staring at his face during class, perhaps like a lovesick puppy, but it wasn’t anything to get in trouble over. Or maybe he was interested, he wanted to understand more about me. Even if it was just as a teacher, it made butterflies flutter in my stomach. I could turn that interest into romantic interest, right?

 

If I wanted love to bloom, first I had to plant the seed.

 

But did I plant a rose bush or an apple tree?

 

There were still other teachers in the office. I saw Teacher Xiumin look up from his desk then quickly hide back down upon seeing me. My stomach twisted in guilt. I still hadn’t properly apologized to him even though I wrote my apology letter. Luhan was in the back standing with a much taller teacher. Teacher Wu. I frowned and stood awkwardly at the door as other teacher passed by me. Luhan finally noticed me in the middle of one of his sentences and stumbled over his words as he excused himself.

 

“Jongin, um,” he said standing before me at the entrance. He took a glance around the office then grabbed my arm and led me out. “Let’s go somewhere more private.”

 

“Alright,” I agreed and stared at his hand around my arm. I didn’t reach all the way and the layers of my school blazer and shirt kept him from actually touching me, but I could still feel the warmth of his hand on my skin and flushed.

 

We stopped only when we reached an empty classroom, Taemin’s classroom. Luhan slid onto the top of the teacher’s desk in the front and I slid into Taemin’s desk, directly in front of the teacher’s table. Luhan crossed his legs and sighed. He ran a hand through his hair. A tuff was left behind when the rest of his hair fell back in place, sticking out like a fluffy blonde cat ear. He tapped his fingers on the desk and I looked away from his hair, my eyes meeting his.

 

“I’m sorry about bringing up your father, I made a mistake.”

 

“You already said that,” I said. “It’s fine, it was brought up sometimes in my freshman year. It makes sense you would think that.”

 

Luhan shook his head. “Still, it wasn’t right of me. I won’t be a good teacher at this rate. And honestly, you didn’t do anything wrong to warrant a conference. Some odd behavior is normal for seniors stressing about their exams. I want to make it up to you for doing wrong. Since I’m not officially a teacher, I can do anything but buy you cigarettes or alcohol. Oh, I could give you the number of a really good dancer I met with Boa Noona last year.”

 

I blinked up at Luhan. “That’s really not necessary, and I think I’ve met them before.”

 

“Oh.” Luhan frowned and stared down at his lap. I stared down, too, then quickly back up. Luhan’s face was a little safer to look at in the sudden quiet atmosphere we’d created.

 

“I still feel like I should do something for you. You were nice to me and I brought up something I shouldn’t have just because you decided to tease me a bit. I’m sure you needed a friend and not a teacher with what you were going through.”

 

I crossed my arms and tilted my head. “What I was going through? I don’t need a friend or a teacher for that, I need you.”

 

Luhan lifted his head and looked at me then toward the door. I thought I saw a blush dusting his cheeks. “That’s not fair, Jongin. You can’t tell me you like me. It’s easy to turn down a girl since I’m not really interested in them, but there aren’t many gays in Korea that are willing to date a teacher.”

 

“So you’re gay?” I asked.

 

Luhan flicked a glare at me before going back to looking at the door. “You can’t blackmail me with that, you are too, and your friends.”

 

I tilted my head the other way and thought. “It’s not a big deal, my father, but I still don’t really like him being brought up. If you really want to make it up to me, I have something you can do.”

 

Luhan turned away from the door and looked at me again. “What is it?”

 

I sat up straighter in the desk and tried not to smile as I looked Luhan straight in the eye. “You promise you’ll do it. It’s not anything illegal or that’ll get you in trouble because you’re not a teacher officially.”

 

Luhan hesitated a moment before nodded. I finally let a smile stretch my lips and stood. I was careful to approach Luhan slowly. After I kissed him the last time we had a conference, I figured he might be jittery if I moved to fast. I stood right in front of him, his doe brown eyes large and questioning. Standing, there was a good distance between our heights and I bent forward a bit, reaching my hand out and touched his hair, softly grooming the stray away cat eared lock back down. Luhan’s hand shot up and grabbed my wrist.

 

“Jongin?”

 

I softened my smile and took a step back. He let my wrist free and I stuffed my hand in my pockets. “Go on a date with me. That’s the only apology I’ll accept.”

 

Luhan’s eyes widened and he stumbled off the desk, standing close to me trying to look authoritative, but I was still a bit taller and I continued to smile down at him. “J-Jongin, I can’t do something like that!”

 

I just smiled wider. “I like you, Luhan hyung. Go on a date with me please.”

 

“I can’t,” he protested.

 

I reached my hand back up to his hair, stroking it again. He didn’t have anymore fly away hair, but his hair was soft and it made him freeze in place. My smile slowly slipped away and I stared at my hand on top of his blonde hair.

 

“Please go on a date with me. Even if it’s just for fanservice or just as friends, let’s spend a day together.”

 

“I…” Luhan started then lowered his head, “….alright.”

 

My heart started to beat quickly in my chest and I took a step back. There was no controlling the large smile on my face as I grabbed my bags, in a rush to get out of there before I kissed Luhan again in happiness. He’d probably be angry with me if I did.

 

“Here, tomorrow, at eleven. We’ll meet at the dance studio.”

 

“Jongin, wait!” Luhan called out to me.

 

I just waved him off and hurried out of the classroom, one fist held tight over my beating heart.

 

A date with Luhan.

 

 


	9. Violet

**9. Violet:**

**Because it’s not quite roses.**

 

            The sun was hot by late morning and I stood in the shade the school’s gate provided. I had been inside, hanging around the dance practice rooms where freshmen and second years were working to get a better spot in class once we seniors graduated, but it was almost twelve. My skin crawled with nerves and I wanted to go ahead with this date already. The sooner I met up with Luhan, the sooner we could go ahead with the day.

 

But, then again, he was running late.

 

I had said eleven, but it had already been thirty minutes. I had arrived after eleven myself after spending forever ruffling through my clothes and then having to battle through an embarrassing conversation with my sisters on what to wear. I’d barely scraped by without telling them it was a date straight out. I did end up in decent clothes, I thought, new navy shorts with a boyish pattern on them and a polo shirt to match. I held my phone in my hand resisting the urge to look down at it. I didn’t know Luhan’s number, but I knew the teachers usually had the students’ cells so they could bother them when they tried to skip out on class.

 

Luhan would call if something happened, right? I had enough trust in myself that I wouldn’t fall in love with someone that was heartless enough not to show up.

 

I patted my forehead with a napkin, trying to keep the sweat from ruining my bangs, the only part of the outfit today I’d been able to perfect without sisters’ help. The napkin came back crumbled and soaked. I shook my hand and it fell loose, rolling along the sidewalk and against a tree.

 

“You shouldn’t litter.”

 

I jumped hearing the voice and turned to see Luhan coming down the sidewalk. He passed me and picked up my napkin between two fingers, making a face, and plopped it back in my hand.

 

“Garbage, Kim Jongin.”

 

I blinked at him, taking in his appearance. He was dressed in skinny jeans and layered tank tops with a longer sleeved shirt wrapped around his waist. He had a snapback on backwards in a bright pink color that matched the writing on one of his tank tops and also made him look like a twelve year old. His pale skin also glistened in sweat from the warming spring air and he had an amused smile on his lips. I smiled back then looked away for a garbage bin.

 

“You’re late,” I teased as I dropped the napkin into a bin a few yards away.

 

Luhan stood beside me messing with the sleeves dangling around his hips. “I uh…well I wasn’t really sure what to wear when you’re hanging out with one of your students.”

 

My chest felt a bit warm. I wanted to take that as he hadn’t known what to wear, either. “I’m not your student really, so you should just wear something cute.”

 

Luhan made a face. “I don’t really like cute.”

 

I reached out and grabbed the bill of his cap, spinning it around. He scrunched up one of his eyes at the movement and swatted at my hand.

 

“I think cute suits you just fine, hyung,” I said then took a step back and crossed my arms looking him up and down. “And I don’t know what you were going for with this outfit, but you look like you’re twelve years old.”

 

Luhan adjusted his cap, leaving the bill forward then pointed a finger at me. “I am twenty-three. And it’s not like you look like an adult either, dressed like that.”

 

I looked down at my clothes quickly questioning them then sighed. “I wasn’t trying to look like an adult. I shop with two sisters, how do you expect me to dress?”

 

Luhan laughed and I quickly turned starting down the sidewalk. He fell in step beside me a couple seconds later.

 

“I forgot you had older sisters. I read that in your file.”

 

I hummed then pointed around a corner. “I thought we’d go to the free park and see what there was there to do.”

 

“Yeah, okay,” Luhan said fiddling with the sleeves around his hips again.

 

I kept glancing over at him. The sleeve insinuated the thinness of his waist, but I could still see the v-cut of his upper body, a petite v-cut. He also seemed a bit taller than usual and I looked down at his tennis shoes wondering if he’d put in lifts since he was going to be walking around with me.

 

There was a lot of noise in the free park. A dance troupe blasted the newest k-pop music in a clear cemented area and a pretty girl played a guitar while singing softly a little farther down. At one point, I had to tug Luhan to the side as a couple came past on a couple bike, the girl texting away on her phone not even bothering to peddle behind her boyfriend. After a while, Luhan grabbed my wrist and tugged me to a stop.

 

“They’re playing soccer,” Luhan said voice wispy, and pointed over to a group of middle schoolers having a mini match in the grass.

 

“Yeah,” I said and turned my head a bit to look at Luhan. His eyes were shimmering as he watched them playing and he seemed to be jumping slightly in his shoes. “Do you like soccer?”

 

Luhan grinned bright at me. “I love soccer! Manchester United all the way.” He pumped his fist in the air and lowered it in front of his heart.

 

I chuckled. “MU? I go for Chelsea. I saw them play once when I was in elementary school when my mom went over for business in London.”

 

Luhan stuck his tongue out at me, a pink little squirming thing that I had the biggest urge to catch between my lips and wrap my own tongue around. I shook the thought away and stuck my tongue out at him as well.

 

“Chelsea sucks,” Luhan said.

 

I faked a hurt gasp. “You take that back, hyung! We won against MU just a while ago.”

 

Luhan frowned and went back to fiddling with his dangling sleeves. I looked back at the kids playing soccer. One of them kicked the ball wrong and it came rolling toward us. I lifted a foot and stopped it and looked back to the kids. They waved their hands for us to kick the ball to them and I turned to Luhan and grinned.

 

“Want to see who’s better? We’ll have a match.”

 

Luhan looked up and looked at the ball at my feet then at the kids. He grinned. “You’re on Kim Jongin.”

 

**(◕‿◕✿)**

 

Soaked in sweat, Luhan and I made our way into a back booth of a chicken restaurant. I slid into one side with the tray and Luhan slid in on the other with our drinks, still grinning over his win in the free park. I dug out the best piece before offering the box of chicken to Luhan. He frowned, but handed me my drink and dug in himself.

 

“You only won because you had the older kids on your team,” I said.

 

Luhan waved a chicken leg at me. “Stop complaining. Even if my kids were bigger, they said your kids were the best at soccer. The power of MU just helped me win. Or maybe I’m better at soccer than you.”

 

“Better at soccer, maybe, but there was definitely no power of Manchester United out there.”

 

“And you think Torres was secretly cheering you on from somewhere?” Luhan asked laughing. “He didn’t cheer very hard; 1:3 is a horrible way to lose.”

 

“That’s not the worst score. It could have been 0:3.”

 

Luhan sipped his drink then reached for one of the dipping sauces and ripped the top opened. “It's bad because your only score wasn’t even scored by you.”

 

I frowned and stole the sauce from him; dipping a large piece of chicken in it and taking half of the sauce back up with me. “You only scored one of your teams.”

 

“One’s better than none.”

 

I stuffed the sauce covered chicken into my mouth and grimaced a bit at the overwhelming spicy taste that coated my tongue. My phone suddenly rang and I jumped. Strands of chicken spitted onto the table in front of me.

 

“Eew,” Luhan said and pushed the napkins toward me.

 

I took one and wiped up my face then pulled out my phone. “Sorry, I forgot my phone wasn’t on silent.” I quickly looked at the text and replied back.

 

“Who was it?” Luhan asked, head tilted to the side. His blonde hair was puffier than it had been when we first met up, now that all the sweat from the game had dried. His cap rested on the corner table and I wondered if I could steal it first before we stood back up knowing the perfect job I’d done with my hair was ruined with sweat.

 

“Taemin,” I answered.

 

“Oh, Lee Taemin? I teach him; too, he’s the one always with you during dance practice. You’re both really good.”

 

I nodded and started to eat my chicken slower, taking sip of my soda between bites. “We’re childhood friends.”

 

“Ah, that must be nice.”

 

Our booth was by a window and I turned my head to look out it. I watched people as they walked down the street. There was a group of older boys hanging out and two of them held hands as they walked, not a strange thing to see in Korea, but their auras vibrated calmly in slightly different tones of cobalt blue. I lifted a hand to the window and watched them turn their heads and smile at each other. It was sad knowing they probably wouldn’t evolve from friendship seeing as they were surrounded by your typical guy, but I hoped they’d be friends forever at least.

 

“They match.”

 

Luhan jumped hearing me and turned to the window. “What are you talking about?”

 

“Their color, it’s cobalt blue. I think they’re too comfortable in their lives to realize they could be romantic with each other.”

 

“The two boys holding hands?” Luhan asked. “Are you starting that color thing again?”

 

I sighed and turned away from the window. “It’s not a color thing, it’s real. I can see people’s auras, souls, I’m not sure what it is, but I can see their colors. I’ve been able to see it since I was born, hyung.”

 

Luhan grabbed his drink and stirred his straw around in the ice. “And what makes this ‘power’ special? What does it do?”

 

“I wanted to know that, too, why it’s like this. I’ve researched it on the internet, but all I got were manhwas or fantasy novels. I think it’s just a glitch in me. I studied colors for a while, too.”

 

Luhan put his drink down and sat back in his seat. “And you didn’t find out anything?”

 

I reached out a hand and tapped the top of the table. “I’ve watched how the colors interact together. It seems people with similar or opposite colors fall in love a lot easier and stay in love longer. It’s odd seeing a pregnant woman walking around. There’s always this little tiny spark around her stomach. Children usually have a color similar to their parents, or opposite. Sometimes they don’t. I don’t really know the genetics of the colors, but I know how they interact. I can tell what people feel and I can tell when people can fall in love. I can also tell if they’ll break up. I’ve never found someone that didn’t match this theory.”

 

“You said you’re breaking up your friends to prove this theory to me,” Luhan said. “Why? You should have stopped them from getting together in the first place.”

 

I shook my head. “I had a promise not to interfere with people outside my family. Even so, Taemin doesn’t allow me to interfere with his love life and he keeps me from interfering with Chanyeol and Baekhyun, but I’ve counted the days since they started dating. I like them well enough as people and half of me wishes they would prove me wrong, the other half wishes they’d get done with it already. I’m just helping it along.”

 

“That sounds like a shitty thing to do just because you have a crush on me,” Luhan said.

 

I picked up my drink and sipped it looking around the chicken placed. I gestured across the room to where a girl and a guy were sharing lunch. “Hot pink and Doe eye brown. The cashier is a darker brown than him, he keeps looking at her. The cook behind the cashier, I know him, I come here often. He’s been divorced three times. His color is orange, but he tends to go after greens. He should go after a blue instead since he needs someone the opposite of him to get him back on his feet.”

 

Luhan frowned looking around the room. “That sounds all very depressing.”

 

I pointed above my head. “There’s a picture there. The owners of this store, they’re dead now and the picture is in black and white, but I can still see their color—Cream— almost the exact same tints.”

 

“Is that all? No one else in here have matching colors or sad stories?”

 

I lowered my hand and pointed at Luhan. “There’s you and me. Colorless.”

 

Luhan stayed silent for a while and finished eating then stood. “It’s getting late, Jongin, I should get home and grade papers. I don’t want to leave it all for tomorrow.”

 

I stood as well and gathered our leftovers bringing them over to the garbage. “I’ll come with you.”

 

We headed out of the door and down the street, sun setting now. I stayed a step behind Luhan allowing him to take in what I said. I knew it was confusing to think about. Luhan suddenly stopped under a bridge which was oddly vacant for this time of day, probably cleared out to make lines for a fan signing earlier in the day.

 

“Jongin, today wasn’t a date.”

 

I looked down at my feet. There were pieces of paper scattered about the area. “It felt like one, we had fun, right?”

 

“We did have fun, and I do like you, Jongin. I want us to be friends.”

 

I kicked a pen I found on the cement. “We can start out as friends.”

 

“Jongin.”

 

I lifted my head. Luhan had turned to me. His face was soft and doe eyes apologetic. I didn’t like it.

 

“I have someone else in mind.”

 

There was a pain in my chest, like a cracking and I lifted my hand to it. Someone else. “Teacher Wu? I didn’t know he was gay.”

 

“Jongin, please don’t report him. It’s just, he’s from China, too, and he helps me out a lot, and he’s the same age.”

 

I…I couldn’t let Luhan be with Teacher Wu. His red aura…what if colorless auras were like Key’s? But I didn’t have a color either wouldn’t he be better with me? I took hurried steps to Luhan and grabbed his shoulder, then leaned down and pressed my lips hard against his. He gasped lightly and I felt a hand pressing against my stomach. After a few seconds longer than last time, I pulled away, lips still dangerously close to his soft pink ones.

 

“Four years, hyung. It isn’t a bridge long enough to keep me away from you. I’ll run.”

 

Luhan blinked at me, and then his face contorted in anger. I didn’t even see his hand move before I felt his fist landing against my jaw and I stumbled back eventually falling onto my butt. I rubbed my sore jaw. It stung worse than getting kicked by Chanyeol that one time I tried to teach him a ballet twirl. I looked up at where Luhan was standing over me still fuming.

 

“Kim Jongin! Kissing me like that isn’t going to help you run any faster!”

 

He turned and quickly started down the street. I just sat there and continued to rub my jaw. Kissing another boy suddenly in the middle of the street doesn’t work. I should stop getting impulses from the random bits of dramas my sisters watch. Speaking of sisters, I wondered if there’d be a bruise by the time I got home.

 

**(◕‿◕✿)**

 

I kept my hand against my jaw the whole walk home. People were growing on the streets the later it got and I didn’t need any troublemakers thinking I was one of them and wanting to get into a fight with me all because I had a bruised jaw. At the apartment, I could hear my sisters inside, screaming at the television and it sounded like Hyuna was crying. Looking at the time, they were probably watching their newest favorite drama. I tried to be quiet as I walked in. I slid my key in slowly and turned, pausing when it clicked. Hyuna and Hyoyeon were still screaming so I cracked the door opened only enough to slip in then shut it quickly and rushed to the bathroom.

 

The living room went quiet and I locked the bathroom door before my sisters could call out to me. There were a couple calls of my name then they went back to cussing out the guy on the screen. I turned to the mirror and rubbed a line down my jaw. It was red just now starting to turn a bit purple and green. I rummaged in the cabinet for something to put on it and found the sea salt. I pulled my polo shirt off and dosed a wet napkin in the salt before slapping it onto my jaw to help the bruising before it could really develop. It was something my mother had taught me once when I’d teased Taemin a bit too much and he’d kicked me in the shin. Taemin kicked me often, but most of the time it was when dancing and on accident so it had come in handy.

 

Mom had gone on another business trip. I held the napkin to my face and moved to sit on the toilet lid then pulled out my phone to check my calendar. She had been going on a lot of business trips lately and was hardly ever home. It wasn’t like we were little kids. Hyoyeon knew how to pay bills, Hyuna had us to bug her about partying too much, and I was almost an adult. She was so close to a promotion, one that would be able to pay off Hyoyeon’s loans from college, get Hyuna back on track, and maybe even put me into the performing arts school I wanted. And a house. This apartment was nice, but it’d be nicer to have a house.

 

Or a condo, condos were cool.

 

My phone suddenly rang and I jumped. I looked down at it expecting Taemin’s name to appear on the screen. My skin went cold seeing the unnamed number though. Slowly, I lifted my phone to my ear.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Jongin! I called the right number, right?” asked the low voice on the other end.

 

“Dad? You…called me.”

 

A low chuckle vibrated the speaker. “Yes I called you. Is that so weird?”

 

“You haven’t called in…Dad, did you need something?” I asked and pressed the napkin a bit harder against my chin. It stung, but it was a good sting.

 

“Oh, I got a call from the school saying you got detention. I didn’t think they’d call me for something like that.”

 

I sighed. “Probably because that’s the only time I’ve gotten detention. It wasn’t anything serious. I was just trying to get someone’s attention, but it’s all taken care of now, I won’t get you involved again.”

 

“Jongin, I…a girl? You like someone? You could have called me if you needed some help with something like that,” Dad said.

 

I pulled one of my legs up onto the toilet seat and leaned back. “I’d really rather not, Dad.”

 

There was a sigh on the other end and I waited holding my breath.

 

“I know…I know I’m not the best example when it comes to romance. I should not have left your mother like I did, but I shouldn’t have married her in the first place either.”

 

“I know that, Dad.” I knew that better than he probably did.

 

The salt started to get at the bruise and I let out a hiss.

 

“Jongin, you alright there; it sounds like you’re in pain.”

 

“They punched me.”

 

“The girl? What’d you do?” he asked, chuckling again.

 

I rolled my eyes. “I kissed them.”

 

“There’s your problem, you can’t just go kissing girls without their permission. Try being a bit gentler. Your mom sends Jung Ah emails about how you guys are doing, so I know you don’t really date unless you’re serious. Don’t give up, Jonginnie. Hwaiting!”

 

“Ah…yeah, okay.” I felt a blush creep up my neck and tried to keep the happiness from exploding in my chest. “I…I have to call Taemin now, so…”

 

“Right, right, I’ll hang up now. I’ll…we should see each other after you graduate. Bring your girlfriend to Jeju for vacation.”

 

Jeju Island – where my dad had run off to with Jung Ah, his secretary. “Maybe…um, thanks Dad….bye.”

 

I hung up before he could say anything and held the phone tight in both my hands head hung low. Without my hand pressing the napkin to my jaw, it peeled off and fell in a sloppy mess onto my arm.

 

I’d almost forgotten what my dad’s voice sounded like.

  


	10. Green

**10. Green:**

**Because he’s mine.**

 

            I was in a daze all weekend. My father’s voice and Luhan’s fist continuously plagued me and both memories made me want to be sick while also tugging a smile from my lips. My stomach was twisted in knots and my heart fluttering with a happiness that shouldn’t be there. I’d gotten plenty of looks because of the bruise on my jaw. Taemin hadn’t been happy about it when he came to pick me up that morning and I refused to tell him where I got it. I lied to everyone else that my sister had thrown her textbook at me for teasing her too much. They all said I deserved it. I did deserve it, but not for the reasons they thought. The slight pain it gave off kept my thoughts more toward Luhan than my father. I hadn’t told even Taemin about him calling. It was something I wanted to keep to myself. His call was a sinful gift. It was like Pandora’s box, and I had already opened one box between my friends and I, I didn’t need to open another with my sisters.

 

Lunch was oddly silent. Sehun wasn’t eating with us today, apparently sick after playing in a fountain yesterday during a cold front with Chanyeol. That’s what Chanyeol had said and he seemed sorry about it. He’d asked Baekhyun if he wanted to go see Sehun after school with him to make sure it wasn’t anything serious. Baekhyun had declined. Another tutoring lesson. They just sat close and ate. Taemin kept shooting me glares then looking back at the couple. I shrugged at him. I hadn’t done more than get Sehun and Chanyeol on friendly terms so far. That could hardly be called meddling.

 

The class president walked up to our table and flopped a bunch of documents down on my desk almost smashing Taemin’s food in the process. “Kim Jongin, go give these to Teacher Lu.”

 

I looked up at her and raised a brow. “Why? You’re the class President. If you don’t want to do it, give it to the vice prez.”

 

She sighed haughtily and placed a hand on her hip. “Look, I don’t want to go anywhere near Teacher Lu, okay? I don’t like him.”

 

I grinned at her knowing very well she did indeed like him, but maybe not as much as I did. She blushed catching my look and looked away, crossing her arms instead.

 

“I asked the Vice President, but he’s busy with the student council.”

 

“Why Jongin? We’re eating,” Taemin said.

 

“You aren’t from our class, be quiet,” she said.

 

Taemin stuck out his tongue at her then continued eating.

 

The President continued. “I’m asking Jongin because he seems comfortable enough with Teacher Lu to tease him during the middle of the class. Really, how can you act like that with him? You think you’re friends or something?”

 

I shrugged. “I like Teacher Lu.”

 

Chanyeol started laughing and I glared at him.

 

“Whatever, just get these to him, it won’t take you long. I’ve got other stuff to do,” the president said and turned on her heel going back to her desk and putting her head down for a nap.

 

I rolled my eyes, but slid off the windowsill. “I guess I get a reason to bother hyung now.”

 

Taemin handed me the stack. “Don’t piss him off. He might have a soft spot for you, but you have lots of soft spots, too, if that bruise is any consideration.”

 

I nodded and arranged the stack carefully before starting out of the classroom and toward the teachers’ office. There were plenty of kids littering the hallways and I had to dance around them almost literally to not get toppled over even if I was taller than most of them because the stack was heavy. I wondered where the president had even gotten them from. Her arms were like toothpicks, how did she carry them all? Unless she’d used her stomach. I had heard boys talking about her abs once.

 

“Oh, Jongin. Do you need help?”

 

I looked around the stack of papers to see one of the boys from Taemin’s class standing there looking at me with large eyes, one I often asked for my best friend’s whereabouts. “Kyung…Kyungsoo, right? Actually, yeah could you? I’m think I might have to break out into ballet at some point just to get these the rest of the way to the office.”

 

Kyungsoo just gave me a weird look, but ended up smiling and took a little less than half the stack in his arms. I gave him an appreciative smile and led the way to the office.

 

“Which teacher?” Kyungsoo asked.

 

“The student teacher…um, he’s…” I turned about with the stack in my hands trying to pinpoint Luhan. He wasn’t at his desk, but I put them down there anyways and thanked Kyungsoo. He stuck around for a few seconds before awkwardly leaving. I didn’t pay much attention to him looking around for Luhan. I didn’t want to miss my chance to talk to him.

 

There was a backroom in the office and I moved toward it, peeking inside. Luhan and Teacher Wu were inside, laughing, standing close enough to be skinship. Something bubbled inside me and I gripped the door frame to keep myself from barging in. There was a sign that said students weren’t allowed.

 

“Oh, Yifan, you can’t say things like that about the principal. The principal at my high school was very sweet,” Luhan said, eyes all scrunched up in a genuine smile.

 

Teacher Wu chuckle and moved a bit closer. “We should talk more after school. I have some things I’ve been wanting to ask you.”

 

Luhan’s eyes sparkled and I wanted to gag. “Really? Alright, I’ll catch you after school then.”

 

Teacher Wu left the room first and walked past me. I quickly put myself full in the door after so Luhan would see me. He jumped then cocked his head to the side.

 

“Oh, your face.”

 

I blinked then remembered the bruise. “Oh, that. I put salt water on it, but it seems you’re stronger than I gave you credit for.”

 

Luhan grimaced and approached. He reached out a hand and lightly stroked my chin. His fingers sent shivers down my spine. I looked into his eyes. They weren’t sparkling, but they were glistening with worry. Worry worked. I reached up and pressed his hand softly against my face. He looked at me curiously then around the room.

 

“They’re not paying attention to us, hyung,” I said, “but I’m paying attention to you. You’re…are you dating Teacher Wu already?”

 

Luhan looked surprised and tried to pull his hand away. I held his wrist, trying not to hold it too tightly, but enough that he could feel my fingers touching his skin. “N-no.”

 

“Are you going to?”

 

“I don’t know. I think he’s going to ask me after school. Does it matter? I’m not really a teacher yet so it’s not like it’ll be trouble for the school.”

 

“And I’m not really your student, so dating me wouldn’t be trouble either,” I said.

 

Luhan sighed. “Jongin, you’re…”

 

“Younger, I know, doesn’t matter. Are you going to say yes to him?”

 

Luhan blushed, but looked down. “I…I don’t know yet. I figured I’d know when he asked. It’s…I’ve always focused on my studies, Jongin. Yifan and I get along and share interests so dating him would be a good opportunity. You should just focus on your studies.”

 

Something clicked in my head. There was a possibility here, and if I read it right, Luhan wanted me to focus on my studies, to not be bothered by a possibly complicated relationship. That meant he cared for me and maybe…maybe he was starting to fall for me, too.

 

I let his hand go. “I won’t let him have the opportunity to ask you, Luhan. This might be the only chance I have with you.”

 

Luhan sighed. “Don’t bother him, Jongin.”

 

I stepped away and smiled. “There are papers on your desk. And, I’ve told you before about my powers. How could that be a bother to him?”

 

I saw a flicker of hurt on Luhan’s face before I turned and headed quickly back to class.

 

**(◕‿◕✿)**

 

I had little experience in matchmaking, better yet within four hours. It wasn’t until Luhan’s class that I realized chances of finding someone for Teacher Wu were slim in a high school. There were plenty of students whose colors matched up, but it was rare to find a student that matched a teacher’s color so well and I had probably gotten Teacher Wu more crushes talking to anyone that had a green or even pink aura more than a possible lover. I’d probably even managed a few crushes on myself since I didn’t normally go around socializing with the other students.

 

I could barely register what Luhan was saying during his lesson, more focused on watching his reflection in the window. “What more could I do? There was only so little time left. I couldn’t let Luhan date Teacher Wu. It’d take too long to wait for them to break up and what if they went back to China together? How would I find Luhan then and he wouldn’t be the same Luhan either, not that I wouldn’t still end up in love with him, but who knew how their relationship could go? I pulled out my phone and texted Taemin.

 

To: Taeminnie

From: Kkamjong

 

Help Me.

 

To: Kkamjong

From: Taeminnie

 

What do you need help with?

I’m in class.

 

To: Taeminnie

From Kkamjong

 

I tell you everyone’s color, right? Tell me everyone close by that has red.

Preferably dark red.

 

To: Kkamjong

From: Taeminnie

 

What’s this about?

 

To: Taeminnie

From: Kkamjong

 

Luhan. Please hurry.

 

To: Kkamjong

From: Taeminnie

 

You’re doing something stupid again aren’t you? I’ll help because I’m your friend. By me banana milk for the rest of the week because I’m overlooking it this time.

 

A middle school couple from that school a couple streets over.

 

The old man on the third floor of my apartment.

 

The baby in a stroller we see on Saturdays in the free park.

 

Oh, and Teacher Xiumin.

 

Teacher Xiumin. I paused and stared at the blackboard. Yeah, he did have a dark red aura much like Teacher Wu’s. I hadn’t made the connection before because I usually didn’t see Teacher Wu since he only taught juniors and usually I wasn’t looking to match make my teachers. How was I going to get Teacher Xiumin to talk to Teacher Wu?

 

When Luhan ended class, I stood and tapped Baekhyun’s shoulder. “Tell our teacher I went to turn in my apology to Teacher Xiumin and wanted to discuss it with him as well. He doesn’t have a last period or a homeroom this year so I have to catch him before he locks himself in the library or goes home.”

 

“Alright,” Baekhyun agreed. “But, if you’re going to skip, make sure you actually do at least apologize to Xiumin. He’s still been looking rather sad.”

 

I grimaced. I should have apologized properly earlier, but I was glad I hadn’t. It gave me the perfect opportunity to do something, as Taemin had said, ‘stupid’. But, I heard love made you stupid and seeing Chanyeol and Baekhyun, I really couldn’t have expected anything less. I made my way out of class and quickly to the teachers’ office. Teacher Xiumin wasn’t there, but I stood around his desk waiting for him, scuffing my foot on the floor. Luhan was there, sitting in his desk in the back with Teacher Wu sitting on the edge of his desk saying something. It sounded like Chinese. Luhan caught a glance at me and seemed to stumble a bit with his words. I grinned at him and he turned a bit in his chair. I thought I saw pink flushing his neck, but I was too far away to really see.

 

“Oh, Jongin ssi?”

 

I turned to see Teacher Xiumin staring up at me surprised. I bowed then gestured to his chair. “I came to discuss with you about my apology.”

 

Teacher Xiumin put his stuff down at his desk, but continued to stand. “Go ahead then.”

 

I licked my lips then bowed. “I’m sorry for saying those things. I don’t remember exactly what I said, but that’s probably because I didn’t mean any of them. I’ve never been mean to a teacher and it was just on a whim. I’m sorry you were the victim in it. I want to make it up to you.”

 

“Just don’t do it again and get good grades; that’s making it up to me enough,” Teacher Xiumin said.

 

I shook my head and peaked over at Luhan. He was still talking to Teacher Wu, but he seemed ready to go make copies.

 

“I need to make it up to you differently, please allow me to. I have an idea.”

 

“And what is that?” Teacher Xiumin asked, a hand on his hip.

 

“Do you…do you and Teacher Wu get along?”

 

Teacher Xiumin suddenly glared. It was scary considering he was usually a cheerful person and I took a step back. He lowered his voice and hissed when he answered.

 

“Are you trying to blackmail me? Is that what the teasing was for in the class the other week?”

 

I quickly held my hands out in front of me. “No, no. I’m seriously apologizing. I mean, I’m like that, too, a little. Um…so you two dated?”

 

Teacher Xiumin looked away. “That was a just before school and things happened. I shouldn’t be telling a student this.”

 

I couldn’t help but smile. “No, no, that’s great. You should go talk to him. Usually avoiding each other means you like each other, right? You just need a little shove, I think, Teacher Xiumin.”

 

Teacher Xiumin looked away. “He’s being shoved perfectly fine, I think.”

 

I didn’t have to peek over to know Teacher Xiumin had noticed the relationship between Luhan and Teacher Wu. I needed to lie, just a little.

 

“Luhan hyung doesn’t like him, he told me that. He’s just friendly like that. I’m a bit afraid Teacher Wu might ask him out, though. You should go talk to him and save him from heartbreak.”

 

“I…I don’t know what to say to him.”

 

I laughed. I needed to see them talking to each other to know if it was going to go well. “Just go say hi and ask to talk in private. I’ll give you thumbs up if you say the right thing and thumbs down if it goes wrong. I’m good at reading people.”

 

Teacher Xiumin gave me a look then sighed. “I’m actually a bit desperate for a relationship right now so I’ll let you meddle, but if it doesn’t work I’ll want another apology from you.”

 

I agreed heartily. Teacher Xiumin sighed again then started toward Teacher Wu who was alone at Luhan’s desk now. I saw Luhan off in the printer room on the other side and moved closer to my matchmaking to hear them. Teacher Wu nodded to Teacher Xiumin and followed him into the backroom with the no students allowed sign on it. I stood just by the doorframe and listened in. There were a few details I would have rather not overheard, but I kept my thumb up until the room fell silent. I was a little worried about what they might be doing in there. I peaked in just to see them humming, dark red auras grasping passionately at each other even if their bodies were in a perfectly acceptable position. I smiled, but it slipped away the moment I heard a gasp behind me.

 

“Kim…Jong…in…”

 

I turned to see Luhan standing behind me staring into the room. He slowly turned to look down at me, glaring while holding a bunch of flyers against his chest. My heart started to beat hard against my chest and I turned away and ran.

 

**(◕‿◕✿)**

 

I ran before Luhan could say anything to me, before I could regret stealing his chance at a relationship. He probably wasn’t the type to chase someone down the halls, at least not while he was in teacher mode, but still I ran until all I could hear where my footsteps echoing in the empty hallway. I stopped and bent to my knees, catching my breath and dodged into the nearest classroom to hide. I pressed myself against one of the walls hiding between it and the broom box and leaned my head against the wall letting it cool my sweat soaked face.

 

Maybe I was trying too hard. But, how hard could you try when it came to love? It wasn’t like I was creepily obsessed. I did feel like I was going crazy though and the hammering my heart was still doing didn’t help. I chuckled to myself. This fear, it was new, and tiring, and exhilarating. Tomorrow, Luhan was either going to hate me or be one step closer to loving me.

 

At least I could help Teacher Xiumin.

 

I dozed off for a few minutes. It couldn’t have been more than five or ten, but I was awoken to a banging coming from the other side of the wall my head was pressed against. I figured by now Luhan wouldn’t be looking to murder me and curiosity got the best of me when I heard voiced accompanied by the banging. My limbs ached a bit when I unfurled them and I almost fell when I stood, pin pricks skittering across my skin. I shook myself out and took a big breath before quietly walking out of the classroom as to not scare the people in the classroom beside me. They could be bullies picking on some freshmen and I didn’t want them to know I was there. It was better to go get the teachers when they didn’t know I was getting them. I’d done enough selfish things the past couple weeks to warrant the need for a good deed.

 

I walked along the hall wall toward the next door classroom and frowned when I didn’t see anyone at first. Where there ghosts? I couldn’t remember this wing of the school having any ghost stories connected to it. That frown quickly turned into an opened mouth gesture of shock when I shifted my perspective in the little window in the door. The curtains were closed all but one letting me have enough light to see to forms pressed up against the chalkboard. At first I wasn’t real sure what they were doing, but then I heard a moan followed by a louder one of someone’s name and the arch of their bodies.

 

“Jongdae! Ah…mnh.”

 

My eyes widened. Oddly enough, I knew that moan. Baekhyun had faked it enough times to gross me out when he was messing around with Chanyeol…but that hadn’t been Chanyeol’s name.

 

I didn’t bother opening the door slowly. It slammed against the wall just as Baekhyun and the other figured moved in for an afterglow kiss. Baekhyun jumped and he turned toward me along with the other guy who I barely recognized from our class, the guy that sat a little behind Chanyeol. Green. Green auras dancing together. I’d probably never noticed it before because I was always focused on Chanyeol’s reactions.

 

“J-Jongin!” Baekhyun squeaked and scurried away from the Jongdae guy’s hold. He pulled his dress shirt together and started looking around for his pants. The Jongdae guy just zipped himself up and moved to the side looking unsure of himself.

 

“I…I thought I asked you to tell the teacher I was busy…then I find you here skipping last period, too…Baekhyun…I…”

 

He stopped crawling around the floor looking for his misplaced clothes. His eyes were full of guilt, like a dog that knew they’d done something bad, but knew they’d probably do it again.

 

Baekhyun cheated on Chanyeol. I always had the suspicion it wouldn’t work out. I was even trying to break them up, but not like this. Chanyeol would have broken it off before doing anything more than a kiss with Sehun, he wasn't the type to cheat on someone behind their backs and I never thought Baekhyun was either.

 

Baekhyun looked at me pleadingly. “Please…please don’t tell Chanyeol.”

 

It hurt.


	11. Black

**11. Black:**

**Because I might as well be a shadow.**

 

            Baekhyun lifted a hand and started to crawl toward me. I took a step back and shook my head. Why? Was this my fault? It must be my fault, I really couldn’t fathom that Baekhyun would do something like this to Chanyeol.

 

“Jongin,” Baekhyun called out. The Jongdae guy moved over to Baekhyun and covered him with his blazer then looked up at me with hard eyes.

 

I shook my head. “I…can’t…I have to go.”

 

I turned and ran from the room. Baekhyun had had sex with someone, someone that wasn’t Chanyeol. Was this something he often did? I could still remember seeing their green auras swirling together, merging, something Chanyeol’s and his auras always tried to do, but never could complete. I’d always known, but this was too much. My chest hurt. This happening now, it must have been my fault. How did I push Baekhyun to it?

 

What was I going to do about Chanyeol?

 

I crumpled into a ball at a crossroads in the hall, my head buried between my knees and hands cupping my neck. My head was starting to hurt. Every time I got a little progress, something bad had to happen.

 

“Kim Jongin!”

 

My head snapped up to see Luhan standing at the end of one of the halls. I blinked then focused on his face and felt my stomach drop. There were tears in his eyes. I didn’t move from my position as he stalked down the hall, glaring at me. He stood over me, encompassing me almost, and for once I could feel the four year difference in our age gap.

 

“You are infuriating!” Luhan yelled.

 

I looked up at him, trying to understand his words. I felt sick already, what was this about? Slowly, I stood and that gap was gone. He tilted his head to continue glaring at me with our slight height difference. His eyes were still glistening and I reached my hand up to touch his cheek. He slapped my hand away.

 

“Don’t touch me right now, I’m mad at you. It’s after school already and Yifan came to see me. Do you know what he said?”

 

“He asked you out,” I guessed. I’d only seen Teacher Xiumin and Teacher Wu hugging, that didn’t mean they’d gotten together.

 

“No, he said he wanted to try again with the guy that broke his heart. He said they slept together on accident then he tried to talk to Xiumin, but the guy’s stubborn. How could you push them back together?”

 

I blinked. “Teacher Xiumin said he’d just felt too awkward to talk to Teacher Wu. All I did was say they should talk. They’re really getting together?”

 

“Of course they are, didn’t you set them up using your stupid so called power? Or were you lying to me about that? You’re just spouting nonsense on a whim,” Luhan yelled.

 

“No, no, they matched, but…people aren’t always true to their hearts,” I said and widened my eyes when I saw Luhan’s flicker away.

 

“I thought I’d chosen someone good to start a relationship with. Mature and similar to me,” Luhan said. “Then you go and take it away. I worked hard to be a teacher, to get here; I just wanted to reward myself.”

 

I cocked my head. “And I can’t be this ‘reward’ you want? You just went after the first guy that seemed okay? Hyung, relationships aren’t that easy.”

 

Luhan laughed. “You’re telling me this? You, the guy who thinks he can see the perfect person for everyone. How has it been hard on you? Besides, you’re still so young.”

 

“Would you quit talking about age! You’re young, too. And you don’t get it. I said I can’t see my own color. I had always thought I’d go along in life tumbling through relationships like everyone else while watching other people pass by their perfect match. Until I met you, hyung. I can’t see your color, that’s got to mean something, so I can’t just let you fall into someone else’s hands no matter how hard it is to be with you.”

 

Luhan scoffed. “You think it’s hard to be with me? Then just stop.”

 

My fists clenched at my sides. I wanted to go home already. “I can’t stop. I’m sacrificing even my friendships to get you to see what I do.”

 

“I never told you to sacrifice your friends for me!” Luhan yelled. His voice rang through the halls and he took a step back. “I never told you to do that. What will it prove?”

 

I remembered Baekhyun in the classroom with the Jongdae guy. “He cheated.”

 

“Your friend?” Luhan asked.

 

I nodded. “I think it’s my fault.”

 

“Of course it’s your fault,” Luhan said. “Aren’t you the one that set it up?”

 

My lips parted as if to start saying something, but I stopped. He thought I meant Chanyeol and Sehun. I…I couldn’t tell him about Baekhyun, not when he was angry like this.

 

“There’s your proof then,” I said then bowed. “I want to go home now.” I stood up straight again and turned on my heel, walking down the hall.

 

“Jongin, wait!”  

 

I stopped immediately. My heart pounded against my chest. It really hurt, but his voice soothed against my ears as it traveled down he hall. It was beautiful and I remembered why I was doing all of this. Whether he was going to yell at me more or if he was going to comfort me like a good teacher, I couldn’t get my hopes up. I turned my head only a little.

 

“Hyung, even if I couldn’t see colors, I would still like you.”

 

**(◕‿◕✿)**

 

I waited the weekend before deciding what I would do about Baekhyun and Chanyeol. Even outside of my selfish need to prove to Luhan that my color theory was right, I had a responsibility as a friend to decide one way or the other. In all honesty, Baekhyun should have been the one to tell Chanyeol and that was why I stayed away from seeing either of them and ignored Baekhyun’s texts. If nothing happened by Monday then I’d have to make my decision. Should I keep quiet and continue on with hooking Sehun and Chanyeol up instead and hope for a smoother break up between my friends? Or should I tell Chanyeol? I could keep quiet and let them figure it out on their own without any interference, but that would be giving up and it wasn’t my style. I’d already committed to chasing Luhan.

 

I kept a careful watch on my two friends and the Jongdae guy. I was a bit angry with myself for not realizing Jongdae’s color was so close to Baekhyun’s. I was so use to colors that sometimes I just ignored them and since Chanyeol sat so close to Jongdae, my attention was always focused on him and how he reacted to Baekhyun just as it had been since the beginning of high school. I wish I would have known it sooner, though. How had they met, Baekhyun and Jongdae? If he was the guy Baekhyun always went to for tutoring then it had to have known each other last year, unless he had a different tutor. How many tutors had Baekhyun had? How many people had he had sex with that weren’t Chanyeol? How many people did he have sex with before I caught him?

 

The Jongdae guy kept glancing over at me. I didn’t really care when our eyes met and I found the guilty, but determined look in his eyes interesting. It might have been nice to be friends with him, but he was the guy my friend cheated on my other friend with. I had an obligation to dislike him for a while. Baekhyun sat in front of me, back straight, hand covering the side of his face that would be reflected in the window, so if it wasn’t for my ability to see his color, I wouldn’t have known how nervous he felt every time my eyes landed on his back. Both their green auras reacted similarly to my attention. They spiked up like the hair on a scared cat.

 

Chanyeol’s aura was only a little dimmer than usual. It was still its usual hyper flickering maroon, but I supposed he could feel the tension between Baekhyun and I even from all the way across the room. I wondered if Baekhyun had talked to his boyfriend at all on the weekend. Before they dated, they were always hanging out together. They were best friends. It was sad.

 

Baekhyun and Chanyeol still played around during breaks though there was a dimmer to it. Chanyeol even got a couple kisses while most of the students were out of the classroom and the others weren’t paying attention. Baekhyun would start to be angry with Chanyeol for risking revealing they were gay, but then stop and allow it. It made Chanyeol happy, but I wondered if he was just letting Chanyeol get away with it out of guilt. It was lunchtime when I made up my mind.

 

I could tell Baekhyun had no intention of telling Chanyeol any time soon about cheating. I was even surprised when he blatantly announced he couldn’t eat with us because he had a conference with one of the teachers about possible career opportunities. Chanyeol frowned and held Baekhyun’s hand for a couple minutes before letting Baekhyun go. I knew it was bullshit, though, the moment I saw Jongdae follow Baekhyun out.

 

“Baekhyun’s really been getting himself together lately, I feel so left behind,” Chanyeol said. “He’s been getting so much tutoring and is even thinking about careers already. It’s not even summer break yet.”

 

I grimaced. Maybe Baekhyun was getting tutored and trying to get his grades up, but he was still screwing his tutor after the lessons were done. “Chanyeol…how much do you really like Baekhyun?”

 

Chanyeol looked at me surprised, large eyes blinking owlishly. “What do you mean, we’re dating.”

 

I crossed my arms and stared at Chanyeol’s lunch. Taemin was supposed to bring mine, but he was going to be running late today, I already knew that. Besides, helping Chanyeol was more important than my stomach right now. “I mean…have you guys made love or whatever?”

 

Chanyeol blushed immediately and looked away. He dug around in his stir fry then shook his head. “We’ve done other things, but it never feels like the right time. I want our first time to be special, you know, since it’ll be both our first times.”

  


First times. Chanyeol was under the impression they were both virgins.  

 

I slammed my fist down on my desk and stood suddenly. Chanyeol looked up at me startled.

 

“Jongin, what’s going on?” Chanyeol asked.

 

“Is Sehun eating with us today?”

 

“No, he’s going to come on Wednesday.”

 

I reached down and grabbed Chanyeol’s arm. “Then you have time to come with me. I have something to show you.”

 

“Jongin…where…where are you taking me?” Chanyeol asked as I dragged him along.

 

I didn’t really know where I was going. The classroom from yesterday was being used right now. The bathrooms were probably full since it was lunch, and I wouldn’t think they’d go all the way to the gym. I stopped one student from our class that came out of the teachers’ office and asked if they’d seen Byun Baekhyun. He’d gone in the direction of the roof.

 

“Roof?” Chanyeol muttered behind me. “He said he had to talk to the teacher.”

 

We climbed the steps to the roof and I stared at the handle where a tie was hanging from. Usually that meant there was a couple up here that wanted privacy, or a fight. I pulled it off and handed it to Chanyeol. He stared down at it and frowned.

 

“This isn’t Baekhyun’s,” Chanyeol said.

 

“I know,” I answered back and pushed down the door handled. It only gave way a few inches before I could see another tie wrapped around the handle on the outside to keep it locked. I pulled out an exacto knife I kept with me to sharpen my non-mechanical pencils and started to cut through the tie. I could hear faint moaning and tried to work quickly. The tie fell away and I turned to Chanyeol.

 

“Baekhyun’s cheating on you,” I said.

 

Half of Chanyeol’s face contorted as he laughed. “That’s a horrible joke, Jongin.”

 

I sighed. “If you don’t believe me, that’s fine. I could have left you be and not told you, but that would make me a shittier friend than I am.”

 

“You’re not a shitty friend, Jongin. Well, if this is a bad joke, then maybe,” Chanyeol joked.

 

I looked at him dead serious. “If you believe Baekhyun loves you as more than a friend still, then turn around and go back to your food. If you have even the tiniest suspicions that I’m telling you the truth, then I’ll push this door open and let you see for yourself.”

 

Chanyeol stared at the gap in the door then back at me. “How do you know he’s cheating?”

 

I looked down trying not to remember what I saw and heard. “I’ll spare you the details, but I saw.”

 

Chanyeol shifted his feet. “If you saw, maybe you saw wrong.”

 

I pushed the door opened a little bit more. “Then you can prove that by going onto the roof.”

 

Chanyeol stared at me for only a minute more before strutting past and pushing the door opened. I followed behind half out of curiosity and half for damage control. On the cement slab everyone liked to nap on laid Baekhyun on his back with Jongdae between his legs, kissing his bared chest as Baekhyun moaned softly in appreciation, eyes closed. He turned his head to the side when Jongdae went to his neck, a smile on his face, and his eyes fluttered open. The smile immediately disappeared when he saw Chanyeol and I standing there. He looked at Chanyeol first in fear then at me with hurt.

 

I stood in front of Chanyeol for a second as Jongdae carefully moved off Baekhyun. “I never said I wouldn’t tell him, Baekhyun.”

 

Baekhyun glared at me and opened his mouth to say something, but was shut off when Chanyeol ran forward and slapped him across the face. Baekhyun looked down at the floor stunned then back up at Chanyeol. He opened and closed his mouth like a fish and stared back up at Chanyeol. Chanyeol raised his hand as if to slap or even punch Baekhyun again. I could see him radiating with anger, maroon aura like fire burning around him. I rushed forward and grabbed him around the middle to pull him back.

 

“Chanyeol, fight with him later. We need to get back to class so you can process this correctly.”

 

“He cheated on me, Jongin!” Chanyeol yelled. He tried to fight against my hold, but even if he was taller, he wasn’t quite as strong as me especially in such a frenzied state.

 

“Chanyeol, let me explain,” Baekhyun said.

 

“No! You’re a shitty lover, Byun Baekhyun, and an even shittier friend!” As soon as he said those words, Chanyeol stopped fighting. I could feel his shoulders moving and figured he was on the verge of crying. I urged him to turn.

 

“Chanyeol, go back to the classroom and eat. You need to think about this before talking to Baekhyun, alright?”

 

Chanyeol nodded. “I know…it’s not good to beat someone up at school.” I chuckled and made sure he didn’t look back at Baekhyun as he left the roof.

 

I turned back around to see Baekhyun standing now. He tried to say something, but my phone rang and I held a hand up to look at the caller id. It was Taemin with a text. I left the roof immediately. Taemin said he had fried chicken. If I didn’t get to it before he found out about Baekhyun and Chanyeol, he wouldn’t let me eat any.

 

**(◕‿◕✿)**

 

Sehun wasn’t at dance practice. Neither was Luhan, but he didn’t always come so I tried not to think that perhaps he was avoiding me. Taemin was rough during stretches and bumped into me purposely throughout practice. I took it without complaint. I hadn’t told him that Baekhyun’s cheating hadn’t been my idea, though I still felt like it was my fault. Sehun and Chanyeol had started getting close and I figured maybe Baekhyun had gotten jealous and that’s why he cheated. But, to have sex? I didn’t think Baekhyun would go that far just to get his feeling across. All Taemin knew was that Baekhyun and Chanyeol weren’t talking because Baekhyun cheated and I was the one that tattled on Baekhyun. At least Taemin was talking to me in between his little punishments, but that was probably because I hadn’t told him about Teacher Wu and Teacher Xiumin. Chanyeol also wasn’t talking to me, or maybe I was just avoiding him. I didn’t think I was a good enough friend to comfort him and give him the advice he needed to deal with this.

 

By the time I walked out of dance practice, I was sure I had a bruise on my shoulder where Taemin kept jamming his elbow into my arm during that one move. I poked it as I walked down the hall soaked in sweat. Taemin had stayed behind to discuss a dance he wanted to do with Boa Noona. Heavy footsteps stopped me in the hall and I looked up. Chanyeol passed by, head hung low, not even seeing me. I watched him go wondering why he hadn’t gone home already. Once he was out of sight, I hurried down the way Chanyeol had come wanting to stop by the bathroom before going home.

 

“Jongin.”

 

I jumped as I turned the corner seeing Sehun sitting on a bench staring down at his phone. “Sehun, you skipped practice.”

 

When he lifted his face to me, it was with a glare focused on me. “Of course I skipped practice; I had an upset friend to take care of.”

 

I looked back down the hall where I’d seen Chanyeol pass by. “You were with Chanyeol?”

 

Sehun nodded and looked back down at his phone. “You know, you’re a jerk.”

 

I raised a brow and took a seat beside Sehun. He shifted away.

 

“You’re angry with me, Sehun?”

 

Sehun sighed and put his phone away. “You didn’t say Chanyeol already had a boyfriend.”

 

I opened my mouth to talk then stopped. Honestly, I’d forgotten that Sehun would find out about that. “I…didn’t think about that.”

 

“How could you not, they’re both your friends.”

 

I tapped the tips of my fingers against my lips and nibbled on them. I didn’t want to lie, but what was I supposed to tell Sehun. “I…just thought you were better for Chanyeol.”

 

“Why, because you already knew Baekhyun hyung was cheating?”

 

I shook my head. “No, I only found that out Friday,” I admitted.

 

Sehun made a frustrated sound. “Maybe you felt that something was wrong with them?”

 

I always knew they’d probably break up, but I didn’t think it’d be cheating. Even with Sehun, Chanyeol would have just told Baekhyun he wanted to break up because he found someone he liked better. “No, I’m just a shitty friend.”

 

Sehun laughed. “That’s a horrible answer. Trying to hook your friend up with someone else because you’re a shitty friend, sure.”

 

“Are you going to come to practice tomorrow?” I asked.

 

“Yeah, but I don’t think I’m going to talk to you for a while. I wanted to ask Chanyeol hyung out, but I can’t really do that now. He has to work things out with his boyfriend.”

 

“Sorry,” I said.

 

Sehun stood. “I don’t really want to hear that right now. I want to go punch some pillows.”

 

I watched Sehun walk away before following his footsteps out and home, any thoughts of the bathroom gone.

 

Sehun was angry at me. Taemin was angry at me. Baekhyun was probably angry at me, too. Chanyeol…he wasn’t one to think it was my fault just because I was the one that told him, but I liked to think he was angry as well.

 

Luhan was angry at me.

 

By the time I got home, I was tired and wanted to punch pillows, too. Or myself. Was there a way to beat yourself up without breaking a mirror?

 

Hyoyeon and Hyuna were watching a movie when I got back. I could hear food being cooked and paused. It smelled too fresh to be any of my sister’s food. I dropped my bag by the door and rushed into the kitchen. At the stove stood a woman with short hair the color of mine, skin tanned by all the country suns she’d strolled under during business trips, and a soft pink apron wrapped around her waist that I’d gotten her for her birthday when I was in elementary. She slowly turned and smiled at me, with lips that matched my own and I felt my chest contract, tears welling up in my eyes. I rushed forward and embraced her in a tight hug, burying my face in the crook of her neck that smelled like office and sweets.

 

“Jongin, be careful, I have stuff in my hands,” my mother said holding her arms out to the side a bowl and spatula in each hand.

 

I nuzzled into my mother’s neck more. “Mom, I need you.”

 

I could feel her stiffen then relax. She moved the best she could with me holding her and placed her things on the counter and turned off the stove before hugging me back, one hand on my lower back and the other doing it’s best to pet through my hair with the height difference.

 

“Have I been this busy that you missed me?” she asked her voice soft in my ear.

 

I shook my head. “No, you’ve been gone longer, I just…everyone hates me.”

 

Mom chuckled. “Did you do something to irritate your sisters again?”

 

“No…my friends hate me.”

 

“Did you do something to warrant them hating you?”

 

“Yes,” I admitted.

 

“Was it an accident?”

 

“No,” I said, “I knew what I was doing.”

 

“Then why did you do it, my Jonginnie?”

 

I sighed. “Because I’m stupid and young and in love.”

 

Mom chuckled again. “Is this person really someone to lose your friends over?”

 

Luhan’s face flashed in my mind. The thought of losing him did hurt more than loosing my friends, but I didn’t want to loose either of them. I hadn’t really taken that into thought when I first thought of sacrificing Chanyeol’s and Baekhyun’s relationship.

 

The tears started to leak out and I held my mother tighter. “I won’t find someone else like them, Mom. I really won’t.”

 

My mother sighed and just held me longer. “Oh my son, I know how hard love is.”

 

I held her tighter to me, my chest clenching more. She was still in love with Dad, I always knew that. When would I ever learn to stop breaking up the people I cared about the most?

 

 

 


	12. Clear

**12. Clear**

**Because everything makes sense.**

 

            The sun was warm on my face, like kisses of evaporated warm honey on my skin. I laid out on the cement slab on the roof, eyes closed and school shirt unbuttoned to reveal my low neck tank top underneath. My arms splayed out to the sides and my feet matched them like the circle position of the Vitruvian Man. I breathe slowly in and out, getting the morning air circulating through my lungs. It felt fresh and real up here on the roof. I’d gone to Teacher Xiumin’s class, but left after that to have some time to myself up here in the gentle morning sun.

 

The door to the roof opened and I groaned wondering if it was a teacher. I heard the click of school shoes on the cement and relaxed. Just another student.

 

“Kim Jongin, it’s not like you to skip class.”

 

I grinned when I heard the familiar nagging voice. Taemin use to get mad when I said he was similar to Key when he nagged though it wasn’t as bad. I reached out a hand toward him, not opening my eyes yet.

 

“What are you talking about, Taemin, you skip more than me. I haven’t skipped once this year until now.”

 

“I suppose you’re right,” Taemin said and sat down beside me on the cement slab.

 

I slowly opened my eyes and looked up finding blue orbs staring down at me against the morning blue sky. “What?” I asked.

 

Taemin stared at me for a few more seconds then sighed. He shifted and lay down beside me using my arm as a pillow, one of his arms slapping across my chest to match my position on the cement.

 

“I don’t usually come up here in the morning, it’s too warm.”

 

“Hmm, I like the warm sun.”

 

Taemin chuckled. “You’ve always liked napping in the sun, just like a cat. I would think that’s where you got your tan from if I hadn’t known you almost since birth.”

 

I laughed, too. “I wish I was a cat. It’d be easier to be a cat.”

 

“Why do you think that?”

 

“Aren’t cats color blind?” I asked.

 

“I think those are dogs,” Taemin answered.

 

“Oh, well, cats…all they do are hunt, make babies, and sleep. They have different ideals from us. They don’t have all these emotional worries.”

 

“Do you have a lot of emotional worries, Jongin?” Taemin asked.

 

I lifted the arm Taemin was laying on, getting my hand to lay against his hair and combed my fingers through it lazily. “You know I do, Taemin.”

 

“You’re worried about Chanyeol and Baekhyun,” he guessed.

 

“And Luhan and Sehun. Sehun’s angry because I forgot to mention Chanyeol was already taken.”

 

“Did you do that intentionally?”

 

I shook my head though he couldn’t see as we both looked up at the sky. “I honestly didn’t really think about that part much. How are they?”

 

“The heartbroken lovers? Still not talking. Baekhyun was looking at Chanyeol when I went to find you during break, but he didn’t go over to him. Jongdae was sitting with Baekhyun. If you were there, you could have told me what he was feeling.”

 

I sighed. “They have the same color, Jongdae and Baekhyun.”

 

“So you think it’ll be bad if Baekhyun and Chanyeol try to get back together.”

 

I sighed. “It’s not like Baekhyun only kissed Jongdae.”

 

Taemin shifted so he was on his stomach and looked down at me, eyes wide. “What do you mean?”

 

I blinked then groaned realizing what I hadn’t told anyone. “Well, I won’t dare tell Chanyeol I saw Baekhyun and Jongdae having sex.”

 

Taemin gasped. “They had sex! But, Chanyeol’s still a virgin. He’s always asking me how to do things and what things feel like.”

 

“Cuz you’re not a virgin?” I asked with a raised brown.

 

Taemin blushed and punched my chest. “We’re not talking about me. This is serious though. Your target wasn’t Baekhyun, so I can’t really be mad at you.”

 

“You’re going to stop kicking me in the shoulder now? I have a bruise,” I said.

 

Taemin looked sheepish. “Sorry about that.”

 

I sighed again and stared back up at the clear blue sky. There weren’t any clouds today. I sort of wished there were so I’d have something to distract me from my thoughts. Make shapes with the fluffy white masses could be mind numbing.

 

“I didn’t want it to happen like this,” I said. “I thought maybe Chanyeol and Sehun might kiss, or Sehun would confess and Chanyeol would have to think about it. He’s the type to feel guilty, so he’d talk about it with Baekhyun quickly then they’d break it off in a natural little damage sort of way.”

 

“Well, you couldn’t have expected Baekhyun to be cheating,” Taemin said.

 

“No, but it was probably my fault.”

 

“How?”

 

I glanced at Taemin then looked away. “I don’t know. Everything’s usually my fault.”

 

“Jongin, I swear, if you’re still blaming yourself over your parent’s divorce, I will kick you.”

 

I lifted my other arm and covered my face. “It was my fault, though. If I hadn’t said they looked good together, Mom would still be with the man she loved and she wouldn’t have to work as hard for her kids.”

 

“Jongin, why are you thinking about this again?” Taemin asked.

 

“I think about it all the time,” I admitted. My eyes stung with tears, but I wasn’t going to cry.

 

“Then why are you letting it get to you now?”

 

I let out a stuttered sigh. “Dad called me the other week.”

 

Taemin was quiet for a few minutes. His voice was softer when he asked, “What did he say?”

 

“Not a lot, but he said I shouldn’t give up on what I want. It’s the first time he’s encouraged me to do something in so long.”

 

Taemin laid back down, his head on my shoulder and hand on my chest patting it. “I know that means a lot to you, hearing your dad. I think you sure treasure those words, so…don’t give up on Teacher Lu, alright?”

 

I nodded, his warm hand helping to ease the tears away. “I made him mad though.”

 

Taemin chuckled. “Of course you did and you’re not going to tell me how, are you?”

 

I shook my head.

 

“Very well,” Taemin said, “but you have to fix all this. Help Baekhyun and Chanyeol stay friends and don’t let Teacher Lu hate you. I’d hate to see you grow into an ex-ballerino with twenty cats in an apartment in Gangnam.”

 

I laughed.  

 

**(◕‿◕✿)**

 

Boa Noona’s hands slid smoothly down my back. Her leg shifted in a swift movement along mine, rising in a slow lift along my sweatpants and coming to rest on my hip. She arched backwards gracefully with my hand pressed to her lower back. I followed her body and lowered myself with her, my bangs almost brushing her eyelashes. We stared into each other’s eyes with a platonic passion. Her lips slowly mouthed the seconds between heavy pants that matched my own as we caught our breath then stood up straight again. The class started to clap and woot at us. Boa Noona laughed and reached a hand up to pat my sweaty head. I grinned down at her then at the class.

 

“Alright, Jongin,” Boa Noona said. “Go take your place. Thank you for helping me out for the demonstration.”

 

I bowed to her and the class then went back to my spot beside Taemin in the front row of the class all seated in messy rows on the dance floor.

 

Taemin lifted a hand to my shoulder and squeezed. “That was good. When did you have time to practice that?” he asked, eyes glittering with curiosity.

 

I laughed, happy that my best friend was marveled by a dance I had done. It was always friendly competition between us when it came to dancing. “It was something Noona and I tried before the new school year. We just refreshed it last week.”

 

“I think it was pretty good as demonstrations go,” said a voice behind me. It sent shivers down my spice hearing it so intimately instead of echoed across a classroom for almost a week. I hadn’t noticed when Luhan walked in and took a seat amongst the students for the first time in even longer.

 

I bowed my head at his words and nodded. “Thank you.”

 

Luhan’s hand clasped onto my other shoulder, fingers pressing in hotly through my tank top. I could feel his body leaning toward mine, the gravitation pulling me back towards him, and his breath ghosting over the back of my neck.

 

“You’re going to be my stretch partner today,” he said.

 

I nodded at his words and went back to paying attention to Boa Noona explain the type of dance we had just performed.

 

“Okay, so everyone’s going to be assigned a partner next week and be wary you’ll probably be stuck with someone of the same gender,” Boa Noon said receiving a round of groans. “Practice some of the moves Jongin and I showed and I’ll pick your partners based off that next week. “Okay, now ten minutes of stretch then start on the moves.”

 

Everyone staggered off the floor and started to stretch. Luhan’s hand was still on my shoulder and I followed its pressure to a quiet corner by the wall mirrors. Luhan pushed me down onto my butt and moved his hands to my lower back, pressing down. I hissed in pain, but stretched my legs out and reached for my toes. I heard a laugh close by and saw Taemin giving me an apologetic look as he helped Sehun stretch.

 

I sighed. “Hyung, you know I stretched before I did the demo dance with Noona, right?”

 

The pressure of Luhan’s hands lightened on my back for a second before pressing back harder. “It won’t hurt to stretch again.”

 

I grumbled, but let Luhan urge me into a different position for a new stretch, using his body to push my leg down against my chest. I wanted to stare up at his face now that I could see him, but he wore a hoodey vest with the drawstrings pulled tight around his face and bangs hanging in his eyes.

 

“Are Oh Sehun and your friend dating yet?” he asked.

 

I shook my head and lifted my other leg for him to push down. “No, I think their still in the comforting stage.”

 

“Comforting? Are you supposed to comfort a cheater?”

 

I furrowed my brows not understanding at first what he meant and let the words slip out. “Baekhyun cheated.”

 

I could see Luhan’s eyelashes batting owlishly behind his bangs and grimaced remembering I hadn’t told him that part when I said my friend cheated.

 

“Were you the cause of his cheating?” Luhan asked.

 

“It wasn’t part of my plan,” I said.

 

Luhan let up on me and we switched places. He looked sideways as I pressed down on his leg, getting just as close to his face as I had to Boa Noona’s during the dance.

 

“Yifan and Xiumin are going well,” Luhan said.

 

“Teacher Wu and Teacher Xiumin? That’s good, isn’t it?”

 

Luhan didn’t answer right away, just lifted his other leg.

 

“They see me as a friend which is nice,” Luhan finally said then his eyes moved around the class. “You guys are pretty far already. Didn’t think everyone was so fast paced.”

 

“No, you’ve just missed most of the death practices we’ve had,” I said then sat back finished with pushing his leg. “Are you still mad, hyung?”

 

Luhan sat up and pulled his hood off letting his soft blonde hair frame his face. I resisted the urge to reach out and pushed back his bangs.

 

“I can’t really be mad if they’re happy. I wasn’t in love with Yifan, just attracted,” he answered.

 

I shifted a bit in front of him. I felt nervous again after not having been this close to him in a few days. This encounter wasn’t planned and it wasn’t private. I wasn’t sure how to deal with it.

 

“Are there other people you’re attracted to?” I finally asked.

 

Luhan glanced at me once then turned around so his back was to me and stretched out his legs. “There are a few I find attractive.”

 

I pressed my hands to his back and leaned forward, face almost touching his hair. “Am I one of them?”

 

Luhan laughed, his body bent all the way forward. I could feel the vibrations in my hands. “You really like to press your luck, Kim Jongin.”

 

**(◕‿◕✿)**

 

Luhan left me to work after stretching and helped Boa Noona out with the other students. Taemin gravitated toward me after a while and we worked on moves together. Or more accurately, I helped him perfectly learn the moves I’d spent a whole afternoon relearning with Boa Noona. By the end, everyone was tired and I was pretty sure most of the class had only learned the most basic moves from the demonstration with Noona. Taemin hurried off before me to go catch Minho  who was waiting outside with his car to take Taemin for a quick meal before dropping him off at home. I sighed not really wanting to walk home that day.

 

I waited until everyone else had filtered out and the sweat on my skin had mostly dried before walking out of the dance practice room. Boa Noona and Luhan had left to Noona’s office in the gym and I didn’t expect anyone to be sticking around on a Thursday. I jumped when a figure suddenly stepped out in front of me just as I walked out the room door.

 

“Kim Jongin,” they said.

 

I blinked a couple times before taking in who was in front of me. It was the one kid from Taemin’s class that always told me where Taemin had run off to. He wasn’t in his school uniform, instead he wore summery shorts and a striped t-shirt,  so I almost didn’t recognize him if it wasn’t for his wide opened eyes staring at me intently.

 

“Oh, Kyungsoo. If you needed Taemin for something school related, you just missed him. I can relay the message for him though,” I said.

 

Kyungsoo shook his head. “No, I actually wanted to discuss something with you.”

 

“Um, sure, I was just headed home, we can talk and walk.”

 

Kyungsoo shook his head. “No, I’ll be quick, but can we go somewhere private?”

 

Apprehension swam through my body. Other than Luhan, no one had asked to go somewhere more private since middle school. But I always knew the reason for both of those. (Before Luhan, it’d been my second middle school girlfriend and I got a blowjob and before that it’d been some bullies trying to rough up Taemin and me). I looked behind me back into the dance room then at Kyungsoo.

 

“How about we go back in there,” I said and pointed over my shoulder.

 

Kyungsoo nodded and moved past me. I got a whiff of cologne that was more on the perfume side and scrunched up my face. I’d gotten a distaste for perfumes living with a house of girls. He walked right up to the mirrors that aligned two walls of the room, both with curtains to hide them when we all faced one direction. He tapped the surface then turned to me with a smile.

 

“I’ve seen you dance before,” Kyungsoo said. “During the festivals, I usually sing and the dance groups come on right after.”

 

I reached a hand behind my head and scratched a patch that was getting itchy with the sweat caked there. I needed to go home and take a bath. “I’m sorry I haven’t gotten to hear you sing. I’m usually practicing with Taemin right before we go on.”

 

“Oh,” Kyungsoo said carefully and turned back to the mirror. “Are you and Taemin…dating?”

 

I coughed on air. It took me a couple seconds to regain myself and answer properly. “Me and Taemin! Hahaha, no, no, he’s…in a relationship with someone older. Taemin and I, we’re good as just friend.”

 

I could see a relieved look on Kyungsoo’s face as he sighed against the mirror then turned, smiling again. “Oh, I’m glad it’s not like that.”

 

I became wary again. Was Kyungsoo here to beat me up if I had said Taemin and I were gay together? He didn’t look like he could beat me, but than again, maybe he had a six pack hidden under that shirt. “Well, what did you come here to discuss, Kyungsoo?”

 

Kyungsoo licked his lips and looked away. “I like watching you dance, Jongin. We’ve never been in the same class, but I see you a lot around the school, and then the first festival came. I was standing behind stage because I’d just sang and I looked out and there you were, a first year already with a solo, or was it a duet with Taemin. I could really only see you. I was struck by how your body moved almost like a voice singing the lyrics to the song playing.”

 

I blushed a little and looked down. “Oh, thanks. I take pride in my dancing. I think it was a duet with Taemin. We were doing a mirrored dance.”

 

Kyungsoo nodded then looked at me again. “It was really beautiful and each time I saw you perform at the festivals and even a couple times with dance troupes on the street during summer and winter break, you just got better and better. It was like watching a rose bloom.”

 

I laughed. Honestly, I loved people complimenting me on dancing. My heart swelled a bit knowing someone I barely knew noticed me. “Really, that’s too much.”

 

Kyungsoo laughed as well. “It is, isn’t it? Well, I had really hoped we’d have class together this year, but I was lucky enough to be in class with Taemin and to sit close by him. You’re always coming in there to look for him, so I get to talk to the elusive dancer I’m always admiring.”

 

“Ah, well if you’re always singing last, then you must have a great voice. You’ll be casted any day and then you’ll be a better dancer than me with all that training.”

 

Kyungsoo shook his head. “We’re…getting off topic. I’m nervous so it ‘s hard to come right out and say this.”

 

I sobered up and looked at Kyungsoo again. “What is it?”

 

Kyungsoo kept his head down as he said his next words. “Kim Jongin, I’m in love with you.”

 

A sigh left my lips hearing those words. It wasn’t the reaction I usually had when people confessed to me, but this was the first boy I’d ever had confess and I’d never been in love with someone else during this time before either. And Kyungsoo’s confession, it repeated itself in my head, but in Luhan’s voice. My heart wrenched wishing this was Luhan standing before me, being all shy as he confessed.

 

I love you.

 

Luhan, I wanted him to say that.

 

“You’re…speechless,” Kyungsoo said.

 

“Kyungsoo, I—”

 

Kyungsoo held up a hand. “No, no, don’t answer me now. Can you just think about it for a while before answering? I’m too embarrassed to hear you say it now.”

 

“I…I’ll take your words into consideration, but my answer won’t change,” I said.

 

Kyungsoo nodded and quickly walked past me. “That’s fine, just a day even to humor me. Thank you.”

 

I waited until I was sure Kyungsoo had left before turning around to leave myself. I gasped seeing Luhan standing in the doorway with a small uncertain smile on his lips.

 

“Hyung,” I said. Had Luhan seen that? What did he think? My heart started to beat faster with the thoughts swirling in my  head.

 

“You’re really something, Jongin. Even when chasing after someone as stubborn as me, you’ve got your own chasers. The cat chases the mouse and the dogs chase the cat I suppose.”

 

I laughed. “It’s not very nice to call Kyungsoo a dog.”

 

“Puppy then,” Luhan corrected.

 

“And I’m a cat?”

 

Luhan’s smile grew a bit and he turned around. “A very dirty cat that needs a bath.”

 

I watched his form as he left. The cat and mouse game? Then I’d just have to keep Luhan from hiding in his hole.

 


	13. Gray

**13. Gray:**

**Because it’s not all black and white.**

 

            Taemin clung to my arm grinning about something I had rather not ask about as we walked up to the school building. I guessed it had something to do with Minho  since he went home with him last night. Even if I did ask, I could tell by his expression that Taemin wouldn’t tell and I wasn’t in the mood to give my friend the satisfaction of withholding something I wanted to know and drive me crazy. I was determined today to pick up the remnants of my gone awry plans and come up with a more peaceful solution for this tug of war game of love I was having. I had three steps planned. 1. See how Chanyeol was doing and determine if my color theory was wrong or if there was still a chance to prove it right while also helping to heal Chanyeol’s broken heart. Both would take longer than I would like and would be like walking on eggshells, but it was the least I could do for my friend since my previous intentions had been so rotten. 2. was talk to Baekhyun. I wasn’t sure how that would go. If I found out it was my fault that he cheated, I’d urge Baekhyun to beg Chanyeol for forgiveness and if it wasn’t, I hoped I wouldn’t end up punching him in the face out of pure frustration since he ruined all my plans though they probably needed ruining. 3. Turn down Do Kyungsoo. I hadn’t spoken to Taemin about the confession since there hadn’t been any time to really and I knew what my answer would be. Taemin would probably try and change my mind just so I would stop doing stupid stuff. Dating Kyungsoo would be stupid though. I loved Luhan. It would take years before I forgot about him if I missed this chance now.

 

I walked Taemin all the way to his class ignoring his random very unmanly giggling. Usually we split up at my classroom as the start of the hall, but he was being clinging and I had no desire to go search for Chanyeol yet with still so much time before first period. Taemin let me go the minute we were inside and literally danced to his desk plopping his bag down on it. He waved me over excitedly and I rolled my eyes. I passed by Kyungsoo on the way to Taemin’s desk. He stared at me with his large eyes and I only spared him a glance seeing his flush and he looked away quickly.

 

Taemin pulled out my lunchbox and pushed it into my hands. “I’m sneaking off campus for lunch to eat with Minho.”

 

“Is that why you’ve been a ray of sunshine all morning?” I asked gladly taking my lunch.

 

“That and I have a feeling you’ll do something good today.”

 

I bowed my head. “Is it that obvious?”

 

Taemin laughed. “No, but you had this crease between your eyebrows that says you’re set on doing something. Now quickly go away before I pry.”

 

I stuffed the lunchbox in my bag and left Taemin’s class quickly for my own. I found Chanyeol and Sehun standing outside it talking quietly together. They looked up at the same time when I approached. My eyes landed on Chanyeol first. He had dark circles under his eyes that told me he hadn’t been sleeping well this last week.

 

“Jongin,” Sehun said, his voice clipped.

 

I ignored him and took a place by Chanyeol on the wall. “How are you, Chanyeol?”

 

“Did Baekhyun send you here?” Chanyeol asked.

 

I sighed not expecting the hostility from Chanyeol. I’d never really seen him this upset before. “I haven’t been talking to Baekhyun.”

 

“You haven’t been talking to me either.”

 

“I was giving you guys time to work it out,” I said. And because I was scared, I added.

 

Chanyeol sighed and leaned his head back against the wall, eyes closed. “I still…we talked and I’m processing it. My heart still hurts.”

 

I nodded. “So…”

 

“Maybe we can still be friends, Jongin. I don’t know yet.”

 

“I’,…sorry,” I said. I…really was.

 

Chanyeol laughed, but it didn’t sound like his usual joyous laugh. “Apologizing for what? You were right to tell me Baekhyun was cheating. I’m just glad you didn’t tell me the details. We’ve done things, but honestly not much. Most of the stuff I couldn’t really return.”

 

“Spare me please.” I made a face and Chanyeol laughed. It almost sounded more like it should.    

 

Chanyeol turned to Sehun and patted him on the shoulder. “I’m going in. See you at lunch, Sehun.”

 

Sehun nodded then turned to me. “What are you planning?”

 

I raised a brow at him. “What do you mean? I came to talk to my friend.”

 

Sehun kicked off the wall and crossed his arms. “A friend you haven’t talked to in a week.”

 

“Hey, Baekhyun’s cheating was a shock for me, too. I fought with myself trying to decide if I should tell Chanyeol or not.”

 

“So it’s okay for Chanyeol to cheat with me, but not Baekhyun?” Sehun asked.

 

My voice caught for a minute then I looked down. “Chanyeol’s…not the type to go that far. I thought maybe you guys would kiss and then Chanyeol would feel guilty about it for a week then talk to Baekhyun and they’d break up peacefully.”

 

“This isn’t peaceful, Jongin,” Sehun said.

 

“Like I don’t know. I really just want everything to be okay.”

 

“How?” Sehun asked.

 

I thought for a minute then looked at Sehun. “Do you still like Chanyeol?”

 

“We’re friends, of course I like him,” Sehun said.

 

I rolled my eyes and reached out to push Sehun’s shoulder. “Not like that. Do you like him like when I first introduced you two?”

 

Sehun looked away and I saw a blush creeping up his neck. He cleared his throat then nodded. “I like him a lot more, actually.”

 

“You’re in love with him?”

 

Sehun nodded again.

 

I smiled. “Take him on a date, Oh Sehun.”

 

Sehun looked at me astonished. “Are you crazy? He just had his heart broken, I can’t ask him on a date, he’s not ready.”

 

“No, no,” I said and waved a hand. “I mean a friend date. He needs to get out and find some happiness and you need to get more brownie points, right? Plus, it’s always nice to make a friend happy. Take him on a friend date and show him there are other people he can put his heart in. I think he’ll be able to forgive Baekhyun easier that way. Then after a month, I say close to summer break, you should be able to ask him out then, or you guys might kiss.”

 

“You like planning,” Sehun said. “That actually sounds like it makes sense.”

 

“It’s one of my better plans,” I said and nibbled my fingers.

 

The bell rang and Sehun took a step back. “I have to go to class.”

 

“Yeah, and make sure you come at lunch. I have stuff to do and I don’t want to leave Chanyeol eating alone.”

 

I watched Sehun run to the stairs then walked into my classroom. Baekhyun looked up when I entered. I’d have to keep a watch on him until lunch.

 

**(◕‿◕✿)**

 

I only took my eyes off Baekhyun for a second and he disappeared. I shouldn’t have looked away when the lunch bell was going to ring any second, but you couldn’t really blame me when I caught a glimpse of Luhan outside the window talking to Teacher Wu and laughing. Jealousy built up, but then Teacher Xiumin appeared and I remembered Teacher Wu wasn’t a rival anymore. I looked around the classroom for Baekhyun, but he wasn’t anywhere to be seen and his lunch was gone. Chanyeol had already moved a desk next to his vacant one, maroon aura glowing a bit more than it had been for the past couple days and it made me happy to see him excited for someone’s company. I wondered how long until Sehun got there. My eyes wandered a few desks behind Chanyeol where Jongdae sat. It was empty, too.

 

I sighed and stood, grabbing my box. I waved at Chanyeol as I passed him and left the classroom. Jongdae had been sneaking food into the classroom from the cafeteria the past couple days to eat with Baekhyun, but I supposed Baekhyun had finally just decided to go eat in the cafeteria with him. I headed there. The last time I’d lined up at the cafeteria was in freshmen year. Taemin and I had fought over a space in line while the juniors and seniors cut in front of us. The line still seemed to be the same with younger students getting shoved to the back or getting their lunch taken away as soon as they got them. I rolled my eyes and walked past, looking around the cafeteria for Baekhyun.

 

Two green auras glittered bright off in the corner. I followed them, and found Baekhyun and Jongdae sitting side by side at a small table, sharing Baekhyun’s lunch and the cafeteria meal. Their auras reached out to caress each other in soft licks that almost made me feel sick with how sweet it was. Baekhyun and Chanyeol often acted like this, but not their colors. It was even worse seeing it both in and out. I looked away and cleared my throat.

 

“Jongin!” Baekhyun said surprised.

 

I looked back. Their auras had detached. “Hey…um…can I eat with you…and talk.”

 

Baekhyun blinked then frowned. “You can eat…but can we talk later?”

 

I took a seat opposite them and opened my lunch box. I frowned seeing plain food inside. Key must have been angry this morning. “I have other people to talk to later; I need to talk with you now.”

 

Jongdae looked between us then placed a hand on Baekhyun’s shoulder. “I’ll go to the bathroom. You two talk. Leave me some.”

  


Baekhyun gave Jongdae a grateful smile. “We’ll see if there’s anything left when you get back.”

 

Jongdae laughed and left. I started eating; waiting until I was sure he was gone before looking up. “So…you two seem to be going well.”

 

Baekhyun poked at his food and sighed. “He’s a dream.”

 

A raised a brow at him. “And Chanyeol wasn’t?”

 

Baekhyun stayed silent for a while slowly picking up rice and putting it in his mouth. “I…really do love Chanyeol, but…I don’t know what happened.”

 

“Why did you start dating him in the first place?” I asked.

 

Baekhyun smiled. “Because we got along so well and it’s not like he wasn’t attractive. He was my best friend. I wanted a lover like that.”

 

“Not all best friends make good lovers,” I said. I knew Taemin and I would be horrible lovers.

 

“I know that now, Jongin. And…well you’re a guy too, you’ve got to understand this…when we started doing things, he was just too shy for me.”

 

I choked on my rice. Baekhyun hurriedly pushed my drink over to me.

 

“Maybe I shouldn't have said that.” Baekhyun gave me an apologetic look.

 

I waved him off. “You’re saying one of the reasons you cheated on Chanyeol is because his sex drive was slower than yours?”

 

Baekhyun winced at the word cheated. “Well…it’s part of it.”

 

“What’s the other part?” I asked.

 

“I…got jealous.”

 

I immediately looked up to examine Baekhyun. His aura was vibrating softly and he was staring down at his food. My chest clenched. “Jealous of…Sehun? I’m the one that introduced them. Is this my fault?”

 

Baekhyun lifted his head and shook it quickly. “No, no, I barely noticed Sehun. I was only jealous of them for like a day. I know Chanyeol likes to make friends. He's like a big friendly puppy. I was jealous of a girl.”

 

“A girl?” I asked. I wondered when girls were ever part of out troubles.

 

Baekhyun chuckled. “I guess I have to explain.”

 

I just gave Baekhyun a look. I came there for an explanation.

 

“I…already told Chanyeol most of this. Not the thing about the sex, though,” Baekhyun pointed out. “I’ll tell him that after he’s lost his virginity.”

 

I nodded. Hopefully he’d be on his way to loosing that with Sehun chasing after him. Though I had the quick thought of what position Chanyeol would be taking.

 

“Anyways,” Baekhyun continued, “I actually met Jongdae during winter break. I went to see some of my friends from middle school while Chanyeol was off with his sister for a sibling holiday. He was actually dating one of my ex-girlfriends that I went out with before I knew I was gay. She meant him through another one of our friends that wasn’t there that day, cousins. She had told me when I arrived she planned on breaking up with him after so she was hardly ever hanging around with him. I ended up getting stuck to him since the rest of the group were girls. He…was just a really cool guy. I found out he went to our school and we became friends. He offered me help with my school work which was great since the Noona that was helping me before was graduating. And I just…he is everything I like in Chanyeol and everything I can’t find in Chanyeol. Plus, he wasn’t a virgin so he was fine with taking things quickly. And then there are those things that make him…him. And I…”

 

“You fell in love,” I finished. “You don’t have to gush over him like some girl, I get it.”

 

Baekhyun smiled at me and his shoulders sagged as if a weight had been lifted. “Do you really? That’s a relief, I thought no one would.”

 

I waved my hand at him. “Don’t’ get me wrong, I understand you can’t help falling in love with someone, but why did you cheat? You should have just broken it off with Chanyeol the moment you realized it.”

 

Baekhyun looked away and his green aura vibrated. He was keeping a secret. I threw a napkin at him.

 

“Spill, Byun Baekhyun.”

 

Baekhyun frowned at me. “How do you always know when we’re not telling you something?”

 

“I don’t, just when you make it obvious like that. Why didn’t you break up with Chanyeol?”

 

Baekhyun sighed. “Spring Break, right before the new school year, I went to America, right?”

 

“We all know about that, what about it?”

 

A blush crept up Baekhyun’s neck. “I lost my virginity then, not the other day when you caught me in the classroom. Jongdae was on the trip with us. I tried hard not to make it obvious I liked him because I didn’t know he was bi. He kept asking if I had a girlfriend or if I liked any girls. I liked a boy and I was dating a boy so of course I said no. He…kind of seduced me. I told him I had a boyfriend right after, but he didn’t really care. Told me to hurry and break it off because he wasn’t going to let me go. Then…well we ended up in the same class and I couldn’t avoid him again.”

 

“How many times have you two done it?” I asked.

 

Baekhyun held up three fingers. “That time you caught us was the third. The second was when I stayed at his house.”

 

I sighed and pushed my food away. “Once Chanyeol might have forgiven you for, twice he probably would have blamed himself, but three? I think I understand why Chanyeol’s been so miserable.”

 

“I…I’m really horrible. I was going to break up with him after what happened during summer, but he’s just so darn sweet and he’s my best friend. I didn’t know when a good time to do it was. I thought if I broke up with him then I wouldn’t have to tell him about me cheating and we could remain friends.”

 

I stood up and gathered my food. “You can still be friends, but it’s going to take a lot on your part and you probably want to introduce Jongdae to Chanyeol. If they can get along, it’ll be easier on you to get back to best friend status with Chanyeol.”

 

“Are you leaving?” Baekhyun asked.

 

I looked across the cafeteria to see Jongdae heading back. “Yeah, and if it’s any consolation, no matter how messy it is, I think you picked the right person to love in the long run.”

 

“I…hope you’re right, Jongin.”

 

I started out of the cafeteria. I hoped I was right, too.

 

**(◕‿◕✿)**

I dreaded the last bell of the day. It would do no good to ignore Kyungsoo’s confession from yesterday, I knew that. There was something about him that gave me the impression he wouldn’t just scurry away like a mouse if I did, he’d eventually demand an answer, but I still didn’t know how to go about it. Since I started high school, I had always turned down girls in one way. ‘I’m focusing on my studies now, I’m not interested in dating’ and then I’d turn them toward someone with a color that matched theirs. What was I supposed to do with a boy, and what was I suppose to say now that I was in love with someone?

 

I originally slumped in my desk planning to wait until the rest of the class had filed out before going on a search for Do Kyungsoo, but then thought better of it. What if he tried to run away today because he knew my answer would be no? I grabbed my bag and jumped over the desks in my way before pushing myself in front of some girls, their yells echoing behind me as I ran down the hall. I went in the opposite direction of the flow of traffic, bumping into the other students and trying not to bump into teachers as well. I came to a sudden stop outside Taemin’s classroom and tried to catch my breath. I couldn’t just go barging in there. Kyungsoo needed to follow me out of the classroom and we’d go somewhere private, but I couldn’t make it look like a fight and I couldn’t make it look like what it was.

 

One of the kids coming out of the classroom bumped into me. I glared at them then collected myself and suavely walked into the classroom. I looked around and frowned not finding Taemin at his desk. Did he leave already? A couple desks over I saw Kyungsoo hurriedly writing the last notes on the board. I figured this gave me the perfect opportunity to start a conversation with Kyungsoo. I shifted my backpack on my shoulder and walked up to his desk, kicking one of the legs.

 

Kyungsoo looked up, big eyes bigger with surprise and then a blush seeing that it was me. I gestured over to Taemin’s desk. “Where’d he go?”

 

“Taemin?” Kyungsoo asked and looked over at his desk as well. “He hasn’t been back since lunch.”

 

I rolled my eyes. Figured as much.

 

“Did you come here to talk to Taemin?” he asked.

 

I shook my head. “No, I believe I have an answer I’m supposed to give to you.”

 

Kyungsoo immediately looked around the classroom then down at his notebook. “It hasn’t been a full day.”

 

I sighed. This was going to take some persuasion. “I’m going home, Kyungsoo. I’m sure you don’t want to wait the whole weekend to hear it.”

 

Kyungsoo sighed and stood. “Let’s go outside.”

 

I followed Kyungsoo outside and behind the school building. We went off to the small group of trees near the sports fields and away from where the rebellious students liked to go to smoke. The setting sun was warm against my back as I faced away from where it set on the fields, but it was shady beneath the trees. Kyungsoo finally turned to me and crossed his arms looking expectant.

 

“You’re straight,” Kyungsoo said.

 

The words caught me by surprise and I quickly shook my head. “No, no, I don’t care about gender.”

 

Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow hopefully at me and I felt my chest tighten.

 

I held out a hand. “Can I just answer first?”

 

Kyungsoo nodded.

 

I nodded.

 

A bird chirped and I heard some students laughing a little ways off.

 

Well, I should probably try to do it politely. I bent my body forward in a deep bow. “I’m sorry Do Kyungsoo; I can’t accept your feelings.”

 

I waited until my words had sunken in before peeking up at Kyungsoo. He didn’t look hopeful anymore, but he also didn’t look depressed. He was tapping his foot as if waiting for more. I stood up straight again.

 

“You’re saying no. Why?”

 

I lifted a hand and ruffled it in my hair. “I’m…focusing…no.”

 

“You’re focusing on school and can’t have a relationship right now? I didn’t ask you to be in a relationship.”

 

“Oh,” I said dumbly. “Then?”

 

“I can wait until college for something like that if you’ll just accept my feelings and maybe try and like me back,” he said.

 

“Oh!” I said again then bowed again. “I can’t accept your feelings like that either.”

 

“Why?” he asked again.

 

I stood up straight again and looked him dead in the eye. “I’m in love with someone else?”

 

“Taemin?” he asked. “You said you weren’t dating him.”

 

I shook my head.

 

“Do they like you back?”

 

“They’re…hard to get,” I decided to answer.

 

Kyungsoo moved his hands to his pant pockets and scuffed his toe in the dirt. “I’ve dated girls I didn’t like. Can’t you?”

 

I shook my head. “Not when I’m in love with someone else. I’m sorry you had to like someone like me, but I’m really in love with this person and I’m not giving up on them even if they decide to put a whole sea between us.”

 

Kyungsoo sighed. “Alright, I get it. At least you’re not going to bully me for being gay. I could have confessed to worse.”

 

I studied Kyungsoo’s aura to make sure he really was alright with me turning him down. The light blue flames of color were dulled, but they still poked out here and there trying to recover. Light blue.

 

“Kyungsoo,” I said, “I think…you should talk to Teacher Kim.”

 

Kyungsoo gave me a weird look. “The Guardian? I don’t have him as a teacher.”

 

I shrugged. “Lots of seniors don’t, but they all like him. He’s good to talk to. And understanding. And! He’s kind of cute, don’t you think.”

 

Kyungsoo blushed. “You…you’re trying to hook me up with a teacher!”

 

I laughed and took a step back. “What’s a few years and a position when you’re a senior? This is Korea and you’re both gentle guys. That kind of relationship could never be found out easily. Think about it.”

 

“Kim Jongin, where are you going?” Kyungsoo yelled as I ran out from under the trees and onto the field behind us.

 

Tonight, I was going home. Tomorrow, I’d start running to Luhan’s heart again.

 

 


	14. Indigo

**14. Indigo:**

**Because anything can happen under the stars.**

 

            I shifted my feet, a slow disgusted look growing on my face as I heard the sticky sound of gum pressing and unpressing against the sidewalk. I lifted a foot and stared in disgust at the pink chewed up gum stuck to the bottom of my shoe. It had been like this all Saturday. I woke up two seconds before falling out of bed, got pushed to showering last and in the cold by my sisters, Hyuna stole the last pudding from the fridge, and I was pretty sure Taemin answered my call while getting a blow job from Minho. It just wasn’t my day even though I had gone to bed last night hopeful.

 

I was still hopeful, but it was starting to get a bit forced with each new bruise I got from pushing through the crowded Saturday night streets of Seoul. There was a patch of dirt around one of the trees they lined the pavement with. I waddled myself over to it trying not to stick the gum to my shoe any more and pressed my foot into the dirt, trying to knead out the stickiness then scraped my shoe on the edge of the sidewalk. I got most of it off, but I could still felt the slight resistance as I continued to walk down the street.  

 

It was late, stars twinkled bright even in the light polluted sky. I stared at them as I walked running into other pedestrians. A couple of them were already drunk, but I didn’t really pay them mind. My thoughts were elsewhere, a million miles away into the future. I couldn’t use Sehun and Chanyeol to prove to Luhan that we belonged together and he couldn’t see what I did. I hadn’t even been convinced of our colors until I’d actually fallen in love with Luhan so it’s not like I could have expected Luhan to just believe me because I hooked some people up. I was stupid and I knew that and summer break was approaching soon; Luhan’s student teaching would end then. How would I get him to give me a chance?

 

I slipped my hands in my pockets just as my phone vibrated. I pulled it out and checked my mail. Mom sent her flight schedule. She had left on Tuesday for a short business trip before her vacation started. She’d be back Monday for a whole two weeks. I smiled at my phone then looked around. There were many little stalls set up, most of them with food and I let my nose lead me to a fresh pile of spicy rice cakes. I chewed on them as I continued down the streets. There was a couple coming out of a girly looking shop and I stopped to watch. They had opposite colors and they were both radiating happily. The girl clung to her boyfriend and used aegyo to thank him for buying her something.

 

Gifts.

 

Luhan wasn’t a girl, but maybe I could try and romance him. He seemed to like when I complimented him as I remembered our first conversation. As long as I was nice to him he seemed to enjoy my company. I groaned realizing I had probably been too forceful, but I was desperate. How did you get someone to like you?

 

I walked into the shop. There were really only things that my sisters would like and a thought came to me. I could bribe them to help me with gifts. And I should get something for my mom, too, when she came back. I started to browse around the store. I found some hair chalk in a corner that Hyoyeon liked to use now that she’d dyed her hair blonde. I picked a couple colors I hadn’t seen her use yet then found a whole package of different colors and replaced them with that. I grabbed the first butterfly hair bows I found. I didn’t think she had them as they were under ‘Hot New Item’ and I didn’t know if Hyuna even liked butterflies, but as not a straight man I liked to pretend I had fashion taste sometimes even if Taemin liked to insist I didn’t.

 

Finding something for older women was difficult. Everything in the store looked so girly and I guessed I looked lost because one of the workers came up to me and flirted with me while asking what I needed. She thought it was cute I was buying stuff for the girls in my family and suggest hand lotions that ‘many business women liked’. I bought the one that didn’t make me want to barf when I smelled it. Then, I thought to ask one more thing.

 

“Is there anything here for guys?”

 

The worker gave me a funny look and I told her I wanted to buy something for my student teacher to urge him on. She showed me some unisex BB creams, but Luhan already had pretty clear skin. I went to the counter where there were little key chains and picked up the least sparkly one – a little fuzzy deer with large anime eyes.

 

I stared out the window behind the register as the clerk rang my stuff up. I looked away to pull the appropriate amount out of my wallet and when I handed the money over to her, I paused seeing a fluff of blonde hair walk past. My heart froze then started to hammer hard against my chest. The moment the money was out of my hand, I was out of the store, merchandise forgotten as my legs forced me to run.

 

I could see the blonde fluff ball among the sea of people up ahead and pushed myself forward, sounding like a broken record as I apologized to the people I shoved into. I reached a hand out and grabbed the shoulder of the blonde puff. My heart dropped seeing their face when they turned around.

 

“Hyung!...I’m sorry,” I said as I bowed deeply, “I thought you were someone else.”

 

“Tch, guys these days,” said the stranger and they turned and left.

 

I put my hand to my heart and tried to calm myself down. I’d come out tonight to get some fresh air and clear my head; decide how to go from here. It was perfectly possible I might run into Luhan, but I doubted it. And I wasn’t really prepared. Maybe it was a good thing the person I thought was Luhan wasn’t.

 

I bent down, my sides starting to burn from the sudden sprint and when I stood back up, my heart stopped again. Luhan was there. Not just a puff of blonde, but Luhan, in a black long sleeved shirt and tight jeans, dressed for the Seoul night life. He even had liner defining his eyes. He almost looked like a girl and I would have laughed if I wasn’t so shocked.

 

“Jongin?” His voice was soft and as shocked sounding as I felt. It echoed weirdly in my heart.

 

“Shit,” I said.

 

“Jongin,” Luhan repeated and took a step closer.

 

“Shit,” I said again. “I left without grabbing my purchase bag.”

 

Luhan suddenly burst out laughing. “So you really did run out of a store following me? You’re really something, Kim Jongin.”

 

I looked down feeling embarrassed. I hadn’t wanted to run into Luhan under these kinds of circumstances.

 

Suddenly there was a hand on mine and I looked up surprised that Luhan was beside me. He tightened his grip.

 

“Let’s go get your stuff.”

 

**(◕‿◕✿)**

 

I walked out of the girly shop with my purchase bag clutched tight against my chest, Luhan standing beside me. He glanced at me, lips twitching with amusement, then reached out a hand and grabbed my wrist pulling me down the street. I walked a couple steps behind him and watched his back muscles move beneath the thin black material of his dress shirt, letting fantasy cloud my mind so I didn’t have to think of where Luhan was taking me and if he was going to treat this like a lost child case or as an opportunity to yell at me some more.

 

“Have you eaten?”

 

The question caught me off guard and I had to shake away the image of Luhan on a stripper pole in only that black shirt to comprehend it. “I had some spicy rice cakes.”

 

Luhan looked behind him to roll his eyes at me. “That’s not enough food for a teenage boy. Nor is it healthy. Do you like bubble tea?”

 

“Everyone likes bubble tea, but it’s not healthy either.”

 

Luhan laughed. “Sure it is, they have fruit flavor and fruits you can put in it.”

 

I couldn’t help but laugh, too, and followed Luhan into a bubble tea shop. We stood in front of the menu for a while. I picked the first thing that looked good while Luhan seemed to take his bubble tea picking seriously. I watched him, taking note of each shift of his facial expression and the words he muttered while making his choice. I felt like I was watching an anime with how expressive he was. It was cute.

 

Luhan peeked over at me. “What are you smiling at?”

 

I shrugged. I didn’t really want to risk getting punched again if I called him cute. “You ready?”

 

Luhan took a step back from the menu and gave an affirmative nod. “I’ve chosen.”

 

We went up to the counter and ordered. I pulled out my wallet planning to pay for my drink, but Luhan slapped my hand away. He paid for both drinks and when they came out, he stabbed them both with a little too much enthusiasm, his voice morphing into a madman’s and my chest tightened then fluttered.

 

I really was in love with this guy. I honestly barely knew him, but I knew I wanted to know him and just letting him disappear after his student teaching was done wasn’t something I could let happen.

 

We walked out of the shop, Luhan’s lips happily wrapped around the straw of his drink sipping up the tapioca beads like a little kid. He only pulled away to let out a satisfied sigh then caught me looking at him.

 

“You’re doing that smiling thing again.”

 

“Is there something wrong with me smiling at you?”

 

He blushed. I’d expected him to get mad.

 

Luhan turned and started down the street again. He looked over his shoulder when I took a few seconds too long to follow. Luhan found an empty bench and took a seat. He stirred his drink then looked up at me waiting for me to sit as well. I put my bag down on the seat then reached my free hand inside and dug around in it, clutching the little deer keychain in my hand. I sat down beside Luhan, my knee touching his, and took a sip of my own bubble tea.

 

“Why were you in the shop? You’re not stalking me are you?” Luhan asked.

 

“I was buying stuff for my sisters and mom.”

 

“That’s cute,” Luhan said.

 

I kicked out one of my legs trying to swing it, but the bench was too low to the ground and I was too tall. “Not really. They’re my family, sometimes I like doing things for them.”

 

“So that makes you very thoughtful brother and son.”

 

The deer keychain started to dig into my palm. Slowly I opened it and let the little animal dangle from my middle finger and showed it to Luhan. “I can be a thoughtful lover, too.”

 

Luhan’s eyes widened seeing the little deer. He blushed again and lifted a hand to cover his mouth. “Is…that for me?”

 

I nodded and moved it closer. Luhan removed his hand from his mouth and reached out, taking it.

 

“What is this for?” he asked.

 

“Because I like you. I thought I might try a different tactic. Do you like it?”

 

Luhan laughed and stared at the little deer in his palm. “You’re really something Kim Jongin.”

 

He turned and smiled at me sort of disbelieving and I smiled back then jumped when he started leaning in. His lips only last a hair length against the side of my lips, more on my cheek then on my mouth, but I stared at him all wide eyed and surprised. He just chuckled nervously and went to clipping the little deer to his belt loop and pulled out his phone.

 

“You…kissed me,” I managed once the shock had disappeared.

 

“It wasn’t like I didn’t find you attractive from the beginning, Jongin. I wouldn’t have asked you to call me hyung if I saw you as just a student, but I didn’t really want to get in a relationship with someone I was supposed to be teaching even if it was only for a short time so I thought we’d be friends, but then you started spouting all that weird stuff about the colors,” Luhan said and started to tap on his phone.

 

I winced. So…I had had a chance with Luhan, but I blew it when I told him my secret? “You…caught me off guard mentioning my dad. I got angry. But, you would have eventually had to know about my powers.”

 

Luhan made a face and paused messing with his phone. “I still feel bad about bringing up your family stuff. How are your friends, by the way?”

 

“Oh,” I said starting to wonder what was going on here. “Well, Baekhyun cheated with someone who has the same color, they’re in love. I think Chanyeol will get over it, Sehun’s trying to help. They’ll probably be friends again.”

 

Luhan tapped something on his phone. “And Do Kyungsoo?”

 

“I turned him down,” I said immediately.

 

Luhan chuckled. “I figured you would.”

 

“I’m in love with you,” I said an eyebrow raised checking Luhan’s reaction.

 

Luhan only nodded then flashed his phone’s screen at me. “Tell me what color these two people have.”

 

I blinked at his phone then up at him. He just widened his eyes and urged me to answer him. I looked back at the picture. There were two boys in school uniforms. One looked gentle, resembling a horse a bit, but good looking and he had a dimple as he smiled at the camera. The other had dark hair and eyes and everything about him screamed dark except his bright smile and his bright orange aura that matched the aura of the boy beside him.

 

“Orange,” I said, “they both have orange, they match.”

 

A soft smile appeared on Luhan’s face and he pocketed his phone then stood. “I believe your color theory…or I at least accept it, so what color am I?”

 

I blinked up at him. “You don’t have one, or at least I can’t see it.”

 

“And you?” Luhan asked.

 

I shook my head. “I can’t see mine either.”

 

Luhan wagged a finger at me. “So you’re not 100% sure we even match.”

 

I nodded.

 

Luhan reached out and grabbed my arm. “So we can just go about this normally, right? I can’t believe you would do all that stuff to prove something you weren’t even 100% sure of.”

 

“I’m 100% sure I’m in love with you,” I said seriously.

 

Luhan laughed loud and pulled me up. “You’re ridiculous. You say such…outstanding things sometimes, but I’m going to say something that’ll make your jaw drop.”

 

I tilted my head curiously. “What?”

 

Luhan gave me a mischievous grin. “You never asked what I was doing out.”

 

“What are you doing out?” I asked. I had figured he was just out like anyone else would be.

 

“I planned on going to a gay club, and if I was lucky, I’d loose my virginity. But, I’m never that lucky. I get drunk and hit anyone that touches me.”

 

I froze. Well…half of me was glad Luhan was still a virgin, the other half was pretty mad the guy I liked planned to go get laid while I was still chasing him.

 

Luhan started to drag me down the street again. “Honestly, I was pretty mad at you still. I didn’t want a relationship with a student even if you won’t be a student once I’m a teacher, but you’re just too cute.”

 

I couldn’t help but flush being called cute.

 

“So,” Luhan said and stopped in the street. His eyes were glittering with mischief and he leaned in, lips against my ear, “I give up, Kim Jongin. We can date, but you have to come to my apartment tonight.”

 

My heart started to beat hard in my chest. Luhan leaned away from me, blinking his pretty black lined doe eyes at me. “Do you have a problem with that, Jongin ah?”

 

Did I have a problem sleeping with Luhan? Absolutely not.

 

I shook my head vigorously and let Luhan lead me to the train station. Thoughts of needing to call my sisters to tell them I wasn’t going home tonight and thoughts about the fact I had almost no experience with sex were outweighed by me wondering if Luhan was so willing because maybe he was already a bit drunk, or maybe he was already in love, too.

 

**(◕‿◕✿)**

 

Luhan’s apartment was small. There was a tiny kitchen with two stools pulled up to the counter and a living room area with a love seat only over a yard away from the television. I didn’t even get a chance to see where the bathroom was before I was pulled into a room as big as the rest of the apartment with a large bed pushed up against one wall and soccer paraphernalia scattered about the rest of it. I smiled liking the room. It felt like a college student’s place, not too adult like I had thought and that made me less nervous until my eyes landed on Luhan pulling his shirt over his head.

 

The fabric caught on his head and made his hair stick out in cute tuffs on his head. He turned a bit looking at me with sparkly curios eyes. I looked down only too see the expanse of his white chest and felt my mouth go dry then start watering. He was so white, almost glowing with the light from the city that filtered through his sheer curtains from the window by his bed, nipples probably a dusky pink by comparison to his skin, and so many lines cutting into his body showing the lean muscle in his abdomen. He was small, but not at all unfit just as I had thought.

 

He laughed. It sounded a bit nervous at the end. “Are you drooling, Jongin? If you don’t want to have sex, we don’t have to. I’m not particularly against doing it when I only like you, but I probably won’t have the courage to do it again any time soon if we don’t.”

 

I reached down for my shirt and pulled it over my head. I felt a bit proud when his eyes widened suddenly staring at my torso as well. “I love you; I can make you love me. I’ll take every chance you give me to make you fall in love with me.”

 

Luhan just laughed again and dropped his pants, climbing onto his bed in just boxers that were so short I could see most of his cream dancer thighs. I stumbled out of my own pants and walked over to the bed, tugging on his boxers. Luhan looked up at me surprised.

 

“You’re taking them off already?”

 

“Can I?”

 

Luhan looked away, but lay back on the bed and lifted his hips so I could slide his boxers off smoothly. My eyes concentrated one each inch of skin that was revealed, heart hammering when I saw Luhan’s member. It laid limp and pink against his leg, but slowly started to twitch the longer I stared.

 

I could feel a glare on me and moved my eyes up Luhan’s chest to his face.

 

“If you’re just going to stare all night, I’ll just go to bed.”

 

My hands started to feel a little sweaty and I looked away. “I’ve only ever gotten a blow job before.”

 

Luhan raised a brow. “Well, I’ve had a little more experience than that.”

 

Something suddenly hit my chest and I looked down seeing a bottle of lube in between Luhan’s legs. My eyes widened staring down at it then my eyes went to Luhan’s legs where as he slowly widened them and I felt like my heart was going to run out of my chest.

 

“Don’t tell me you’ve never fingered yourself before,” Luhan said.

 

I stared at the lube more. “I never really pictured myself bottoming. I’m…pansexual.”

 

Luhan sat up a bit and grabbed the bottle, opening it. “Fine, I’ll show you this time, but next time you’re doing it.”

 

A stupid smile spread on my lips hearing ‘next time’. We were going to be lovers. There would be lots of next times.

 

I crawled onto the bed and sat at Luhan’s feet, almost between his legs. Luhan coated his fingers in the clear lube and moved them to his entrance, lubing the small pink hole up enough to slide one finger in. He made a face and I shifted a bit already feeling myself harden just knowing what was going to happen. He moved his finger in and out and slowly slid in a second. He made small gasping sounds with each scissoring and I almost wondered if he was really a virgin. I remembered Luhan was older than me; there could have been many near lovers before he came to Korea. He might have even played around a bit with Teacher Wu…and that pissed me off.  

 

Luhan had just added the third finger when I reached out my hand and grabbed his member. It was only half hard probably because he was too embarrassed to actually please himself with his fingers while I watched and probably just nervous in general. I was nervous, too. I probably would have hurt him had I even attempted to stretch Luhan this first time. He gasped, eyes widening them snapping close the minute I wrapped my hand around his length and started to stroke. His hips bucked against his fingers and then into my hand and I wondered if he’d come close to touching his prostate.

 

“J-Jongin…what…” he tried to say.

 

“I…want to touch you,” I said. My voice came out deeper than even I was use to hearing it. I could feel Luhan shiver because of it and my heart gave a mischievous jerk. I leaned forward, hovering over Luhan on the bed and started to kiss up his neck. He made a sort of keening sound that made me groan and I leaned against his ear, whispering with the same deepness into it, “I want to hear you.”

 

“Jongin,” Luhan said, voice strained, “you…can’t…no more…I can’t do this anymore.”

 

I could feel the heat of his blush against my cheek and chuckled. He was getting shy and even though I felt shy, too, I was more excited than anything. I moved my lips and kissed him, slowly and then he moved my free hand to my hair and kissed me back. His lips opened and I slid my tongue into his reveling in the sweet taste the bubble tea had left on his tongue and the taste that was him. His tongue moved with mine in a slow slithering dance, not messy like my girlfriends in middle school.

 

Luhan pulled away gasping for breath and stared up at the ceiling. “Why did you do that?”

 

“Because I wanted to kiss you,” I said and couldn’t resist pressing my lips to his chin, “and you were panicking.”

 

Luhan chuckled; the vibration of the nice tickled my lips as I planted them on his neck. His hands moved his moved to my shoulder, pressing down, both of them, and I blinked. Luhan shifted a bit under me and looked at me with a shy grin.

 

“So, you going to enter me or not?” Luhan asked.

 

My eyes widened at first, then arched into crescents and a large grin crossed my face. My heart was beating hard again. Luhan stared at me confused for a second before I felt him slapping my shoulder.

 

“Kim Jongin, stop smiling like that!” Luhan yelled.

 

“Like what?” I asked still smiling.

 

“Like I made your world,” Luhan said and I could see through his frenzied expression that he was fighting off a smile of his own.

 

I leaned in close. I couldn’t really make the smile go away as I said, “You did make my world.”

 

Luhan shook his head then grabbed my face, squishing it and glaring at me. He suddenly pecked me hard and let go of my face. He spread his arms out and looked heavenwards as he exclaimed, “Stop being so cute and take me already, Kim Jongin!”

 

And I did, with a smile still plastered on my face. I sat up and spread Luhan’s legs out wider, directing myself to Luhan’s entrance. I pressed just the tip, already feeling his warmth on my penis, a new sensation that made me giddy, and then looked at him for confirmation.

 

“Am I…going to hurt you?” I asked. I was pretty sure it could hurt even for girls.

 

Luhan rolled his eyes and sat up a bit. He reached out for the back of my head and kissed me softly then looked me straight into my eyes. It was that serious look that teachers sometimes gave you to ensure you everything would be fine that he had probably practiced a million times studying in college, but there was a sparkle of love and need behind it all that none of his other students or acquaintances would ever see if I had anything to do with it.

 

“For every second it does hurt, I’m sure you’ll make up four times for it with pleasure. You’re a determined guy.”

 

I felt like that pretty much summed everything up and I pressed in.

 

Luhan moaned, it was a bit pained, and fell back on the bed. I could barely breathe with the tight heat suddenly encasing me and I leaned forward panting and waiting. I already felt like exploding. It felt so good. I wondered briefly if Jongdae felt like this, if Sehun or Chanyeol would, even if Minho  had with Taemin, thought I quickly shot off anymore thoughts about it because Luhan moved. He canted his hips forward making me go another couple centimeters in and I heard a breathless ‘move’.

 

The friction was even better. I could barely form words other than Luhan’s name. At first he barely made a sound and I tried to go slow, but it was my first time and his first time and I don’t think either of us really knew when it was supposed to be good for us both so I just pushed deeper and moved my hips and suddenly he screamed my name.

 

My heart stopped for a second. I really thought an angel had yelled.

 

Luhan moaned loudly to get me to move again. It was definitely not an angel, just my student teacher, my boyfriend, my lover! screaming my name again and again between soft moans as I made love to him and I wanted to smile like an idiot again, but it was hard to smile when you were gasping for breath so close to release.

 

At some point, Luhan had started to pump himself and I was half grateful because I would have come way before him if he hadn’t. I did cum first with an eruption hotter than I’d ever had picturing Luhan bent over a desk at school while I jacked off over his homework which had happened more often than I’d like to admit since the first time. My hands were on his thighs and I squeezed them, my hips still moving just to make it last a little longer.

 

I felt Luhan cum right before I pulled out. I saw it splutter up then down on his hand and abdomen. I resisted the urge to lean forward and lick it off because I’d probably embarrass Luhan and myself. Luhan just sort of lay there, letting his hand fall from his limp member and stared at the ceiling. I sat back on my legs and stared at him feeling kind of drained but elated at the same time. My eyes roamed over his post-sex body and giddiness started to grow again. Was this all real? Had I really just made love to Luhan? Was I really getting a chance to be with this guy that I’d fallen in love with? My eyes wandered down to between Luhan’s legs where my semen was leaking out and wondered if maybe we should have used a condom.

 

“Jongin,” Luhan groaned.

 

I snapped my head back up to look at him. He looked tired. His makeup was smeared a bit. I kind of just wanted to wash it off so I could see his clear face, not that he hadn’t looked completely ravishing with the little enhancements and even with it smeared like that.

 

He groaned again and looked around, grabbing a sheet and move toward the pillows of his bed, curling up on them. I stared at him wondering what I should do. Was he going to bed?

 

Luhan peeked over the top of his sheet and jerked his head a bit invitingly. I smiled again and he made this weird sound quickly hiding his face under a pillow. I moved to lie beside him, grabbing his sheet to get under it, too and scooted close to him. Luhan let me and I was surprised when he actually curled up next to me, wrapping himself lazily around me like I was a body pillow, face tucked into my neck.

 

“I don’t like people being on my bed,” he said.

 

I just chuckled and held him tight, my eyes getting droopy. Sex was tiring, but I still couldn’t help smiling, my heart still beating hard and happy.

 

I’d probably never lose this stupid smile.


	15. Rainbow

**15. Rainbow:**

**Because I’ve found the pot of gold.**

 

            I was on stage. My legs moved in swift glides as my hands led my arms into different positions around my body. The sound of my favorite song played in the background like a quiet instructor. It was perfect if only the stage lights weren’t so bright in my eyes and if my outfit wasn’t so itchy. Then something slapped me across the face.

 

I sat up fast. My eyes were wide and stung with the morning sun. I shielded them and looked around the room for what hit me. All the soccer paraphernalia didn’t really register as being wrong until I realized it was all the color of Manchester United. Something moved on my lap and I looked down seeing a slim pretty white hand. I followed the hand down to an arm and then to a pale body on the bed beside me entangled in a white sheet. Immediately, a soft smile adorned my face and I shifted to look at Luhan better.

 

With the morning light filtering from behind Luhan’s thin curtains, Luhan looked like an angel, all spread out on the wall side of the bed. One corner of the sheet was wrapped under him then came to rest on his chest plate leaving both his dusty pink nubs exposed, flesh I hadn’t gotten to touch last night, but wished I had. The rest of the sheet was wrapped and folded about Luhan’s waist showing bits of thigh and stomach and leg – places I had touched. My eyes traveled back up to Luhan’s face and I laughed a little. His hair was like a messy halo around his head and his lips still looked a bit swollen, but that might have just been from the heat of the morning. They were parted just slightly, letting the tiniest glisten of drool out and his nose kept twitching. Maybe he looked a bit more like a tired out putto than a full fledge angel. I wondered how much he had actually moved to get into this sort of state. I hadn’t felt any of it until he’d slapped me which I would forgive because his eyes were pretty and calm, long dark lashes kissing gently together. I leaned forward wanting to steal a kiss while he was asleep, a kiss in return for getting hit. The song in my dreams started to play again before I could reach his lips and Luhan groaned, turning away on the bed and I almost got hit again.

 

I looked around the room suddenly in a bad mood. Where was the sound coming from? My eyes landed on the pile of clothes we’d discarded on Luhan’s floor last night and it registered that that was my ringtone – the ringtone I specifically used for Taemin. I scurried off the bed and started to dig around in the pile for my pants so I could answer it before Luhan woke up. I still wanted that sleeping beauty kiss.

 

“Taemin,” I said softly into the receiver crawling to the far side of Luhan’s bedroom.

 

“Kim Jongin, where on the earth are you!” Taemin yelled back.

 

I held the receiver away from my face. I was still half asleep, I couldn’t handle yelling yet. “What do you mean?”

 

“You’re sisters have been calling me every hour since midnight last night to ask if you were here. You better be glad I wasn’t with Minho  or I’d been really pissed. You can’t just go off randomly to spend the night somewhere without telling your sisters. And because you’re not here, I got worried, too, you idiot.”

 

I hissed. Of course I forgot to call my sisters when I got to Luhan’s house. I’d fallen asleep with Luhan’s face nuzzled into my shoulder. “Well…calling my sisters wasn’t really the first thing on my mind last night.”

 

Taemin sighed. “Where are you? I swear if you’re in some back alley after passing out from underage drinking, I’ll beat you up while Key holds you down.”

 

I shook my head. That wasn’t a good image to have in my head. “No, no, I just went shopping last night.”

 

“And then what? Where are you now, Jongin.”

 

Now? I glanced over at Luhan’s bed and smiled. “Luhan’s bedroom.”

 

The other line was silent for a few minutes. “Luhan’s bedroom? What, are you a stalker now?”

 

I frowned. “You have so little faith in me, Taemin. I was invited into Luhan’s bedroom.”

 

Again, the other line was silent, then Taemin gasped. “Are you naked right now?”

 

“Yep!” I said smiling.

 

“How!” Taemin screamed.

 

I opened my mouth to answer, but there was a groan from the bed followed by a soft moan of my name. “Jongin~” Luhan rolled and blinked tiredly at me, before just keeping his eyes closed, hands reaching out like a little kid.

 

“Sorry, Taemin,” I whispered, “I’ll tell you later.”

 

I shut my phone before Taemin could respond and put it silent then crawled my way back to the bed. Luhan was pouting in his sleep and I leaned down to kiss it quickly. He swatted his hands at me.

 

“Jongin…pillow….mnh,” he grumbled.

 

I didn’t really understand what he was saying, but I was happy to hear my name involved in it and gave him a once over. The sheet and mostly unwrapped itself from his body now, but it was still wrapped around his hips, thinly concealing the bulge of Luhan’s morning wood. I laughed a little.

 

“Hyung, you have a problem,” I said.

 

Luhan just grumbled more things and shifted on the bed. “Hurts, fix it.”

 

I raised a brow at him. Thinking about it afterwards, he was probably talking about his back, but I was all too happy to try giving my new lover a blow job, and if he was half asleep, he wouldn’t really care how good I was at it, would he? I reached a hand out and pulled the sheet again from Luhan’s lap, then grabbed his member, stroking it like how I had last night. Luhan gasped and thrust his hips upwards.

 

“Jongin~” he moaned softly, eyes fluttering to look at me still half asleep. “What are you doing?”

 

“Fixing it.” I shifted so I was in between Luhan’s legs. I leaned down and licked up Luhan’s member. It tasted a bit salty, my first ever taste of penis. It was weird to think about it. I had never really thought about going down on anyone before, not even when I fantasized about Luhan, but I had thought plenty of times about him doing the same for me.

 

I licked it again then slowly took only the tip into my mouth. I hummed around it to give me some time to decide what to do next. One of Luhan’s hands came to tug hard in my hair and pushed me down onto his length and I coughed around it. I hadn’t expected Luhan to be so forceful half asleep. It was difficult pulling back up, but I did and slowly started a rhythm.

 

“Ah,” Luhan let out softly. His white legs were spread wide before me and he moved his hips a little, but he mostly stayed calm on the bed.

 

I moved a little faster, experimenting with sucks and light grazes of teeth to see what would get him the most. He started to arch when I took my mouth off and went to kissing his bright pink tip and sucks on his base. He seemed like he might cum soon, calling my name softly (I was glad he knew it was me doing it; it seemed like he might have thought it was a dream so early in the morning) and arching on the bed. I wasn’t particularly ready to swallow so I shifted further up on him, kissing up, and took one of his nipples I’d been wanting to touch into my mouth, sucking that as I stroked him.

 

I didn’t get to play very long before he came hot and wet into my hand. I sat up and looked down at him. His doe brown eyes were blurry looking back up at me, but he was smiling a bit. His hand was still in my hair and Luhan tugged me down for a lazy kiss that became lazier as it went on until I was the only one kissing. I pulled away with a sigh and got off the bed. I grabbed the sheet and covered my sleeping older boyfriend with it then left the room wondering where I’d find the bathroom in Luhan’s tiny apartment.

 

**(◕‿◕✿)**

 

Something hit the back of my head. I stiffened then hissed as oil from the eggs and rice I’d been scrambling together jumped onto my arm. I licked the spot, soothing the small burn and turned. There was a wadded up sock on the floor, a sock that looked vaguely familiar as if I’d taken it off last night. Not my sock. I looked up and saw Luhan peeking his head from around the door I’d found the bathroom behind earlier. I blinked at him and he slowly showed more of his face.

 

“Did you give me a blow job this morning?” he asked.

 

“Yeah,” I answered.

 

He disappeared into the bathroom and then another sock came flying at me, hitting me square in the forehead. I rubbed it and Luhan came out of the bathroom in only some sweatpants, water dripping from his hair onto his bare chest after a shower. I watched the droplets cascade down his neck and catch on his nipples. I controlled myself from licking them off.

 

“You can’t just go around giving me a blowjob every morning,” Luhan said.

 

I turned back to the stove and stirred the rice and eggs together more. “Why not? You didn’t like it?”

 

“If I’m half asleep I’ll just think it’s a wet dream,” Luhan admitted. “I would have liked to have been a little more away to see my new boyfriend take cock for the first time.”

 

I laughed nervously. I was kind of glad he was half asleep. I wasn’t very confident in my technique.

 

A hand pressed onto my arm then there was a forehead on the back of my neck. I could feel Luhan breath against the hairs on my nape and his other arm came to wrap around my waist. I leaned into the touch.

 

“Are you cooking me breakfast, Kim Jongin?” Luhan asked in a hum.

 

“I thought about bringing you breakfast in bed, but you’re already up.”

 

I could feel him smile. “That would have been nice. It hurts to walk. I didn’t know you could cook, though?”

 

“I can’t,” I said, “but what’s hard about eggs and rice? That’s all you had in your fridge anyways.”

 

Luhan moved away from me and sat down at his little counter. I turned the stove off and grabbed a potholder and utensils then plopped the pan on the potholder in front of Luhan. He picked up a spoon and took a bite.

 

“It’s not bad,” he said. I started to eat too.

 

“Who was that on the phone this morning?” Luhan asked.

 

“Taemin; I forgot to tell people where I was last night,” I said.

 

Luhan went a bit red. “I should take the blame for that. I didn’t give you much time to call someone.”

 

“It’s fine. Sometimes my sisters don’t come home and there’s nothing much I can do about that either even though I wish I could,” I said. “I don’t regret coming here last night or doing any of that…I mean…it was good, wasn’t it?”

 

Luhan poked at the food and I wondered if maybe it had been terrible. The thought made me feel sick.

 

“Hmm, well I came, didn’t I? It felt good,” Luhan said and nodded to himself. “It was my first time, too, so it was a little painful.”

 

“It’ll get better?”

 

Luhan nodded again. “It wasn’t bad in the first place, but does Lee Taemin…know about us?”

 

I grinned a little. “He already knew I liked you.”

 

Luhan groaned. “I had hoped to keep this a secret until after I was done student teaching.”

 

“Only Taemin knows. I won’t tell Baekhyun or Chanyeol until summer…I’ll think of what to tell my family.”

 

“Your family is your sisters?”

 

“And my mom,” I added.

 

“Jongin,” Luhan started. His voice was careful and when I looked at him, I could see his eyebrows furrowed together. “I want…I want to know about you. Can I know…can I know about your dad?”

 

I was happy hearing Luhan wanted to know about me, but what could I say about my dad to him. “Tell me about your family first, hyung.”

 

“They live in Beijing. We’re not terribly close, but we’re not distant either. I guess you could say they’ve already let me go. I can make my own choices and such.”

 

I nodded. “Well…my dad lives on Jeju Island. He’s a doctor. He married the secretary that he left my mom for.”

 

“Oh,” Luhan said.

 

I turned and started going through Luhan’s fridge for drinks. I found milk and some kimchi and brought them out. “I know I was going on and on about my powers before, but they’re not really good powers.”

 

“What do you mean? I know you can’t see our colors, but if you have the right intentions, I’m sure it could be alright. I don’t agree on what you were doing with your friends, but it ended up that might not have been such a bad idea,” Luhan said.

 

I smiled. He was trying to reassure me. “I think it might have been better had it gone how I planned, but that’s the thing about this color theory, it doesn’t always go as you plan. I was the one who broke my parents up.”

 

Luhan frowned at me as I passed him a glass of milk. “You said your dad left your mom for another woman.”

 

“My dad is navy, my mom is yellow, and my stepmom is a navy shade as well. I was only four, but I let it slip. ‘You guys look good together’. What four years old tells his father he looks good with another woman?” I said.

 

“Sometimes kids say the darndest things,” Luhan said and took a sip of milk.

 

I chuckled. “Yeah, but I still shouldn't have said it. My mom…she was so in love with him.”

 

“Jongin,” Luhan said and reached out a hand, placing it on top of my wrist. His touch was warm, loving, and I smiled down at his hand. “Don’t think about it too much. Think about where you are right now and who you’re with and what you’re going to do tomorrow.”

 

I smiled at Luhan. “Right now I’m in my student teacher’s apartment eating breakfast with my lover and tomorrow I will great him warmly with an apple.”

 

Luhan made a face. “Why an apple?”

 

“Because that’s what you give to teachers,” I said. “And when you become a real teacher…can I come to your apartment and give you apples every day?”

 

Luhan cocked his head. “If…we’re still together when I become a real teacher, you can wake me up every morning with blowjobs and apples.”

 

I laughed feeling happy. I figured that was Luhan’s way of saying I could move in with him in a year. It didn’t sound bad, but I remembered something. “That picture you showed me last night, what was it about?”

 

“Oh, Zitao and Yixing?” Luhan asked. “They’re friends from China…well Yixing was a friend.”

 

“Why’d you ask me if they had the same color?” I asked.

 

“Yixing and I…” Luhan started looking as if he was having a hard time finding the words, “we were friends who messed around. We helped each other discover our sexual orientation I guess you could say.”

 

I frowned. “Oh.”

 

“He found his before I found mine,” Luhan continued, “and started dating that Zitao kid. They’ve dated for a long time. I figured I’d believe your craziness and forget about the age gap if you said they went together.”

 

“I could have lied,” I said.

 

Luhan laughed. “Who in the world would pick orange though?”

 

I nodded. “So we’re together then?”

 

Luhan sighed. “Yes, Kim Jongin, you’re my boyfriend. But, honestly you should go home soon since you didn’t call your sisters last night to tell them where you were.”

 

I groaned. “I don’t want to go home yet. I want to hang out with you.”

 

“You have homework to do, and even if you’re my boyfriend, I still expect you to turn in your homework on time.”

 

I grinned and leaned over the counter toward Luhan. “Even if it’s covered in cum?”

 

“What!” Luhan yelled.

 

I stole a quick kiss then leaned away. “Now you know why I didn’t turn in my homework a couple of times.”

 

“You perverted little…” Luhan trailed off.

 

I danced over to Luhan’s side of the counter and grabbed his face softly between my hands, leaning down. His big brown eyes looked up at me, glittering a little and there was a flush to his cheeks.

 

“How am I supposed to grade your work now?” Luhan asked, hands coming up to my shoulder and pulling me down closer.

 

I answered him with a kiss.

 

**(◕‿◕✿)**

 

It took some persuading to get me to leave Luhan’s apartment. IE: a kiss goodbye. It was almost three in the afternoon when I stood in Luhan’s doorway reading to leave. I grinned at him with my hands held behind my back holding my sister’s gifts. Luhan stood with his arms crossed in front of me just judging me.

 

“You look like a little kid,” Luhan said.

 

I rocked back and forth on my heels. “Kiss.”

 

“Haven’t you been stealing kisses all morning?”

 

“Kiss,” I repeated.

 

Luhan rolled his eyes. “Fine, only because you’re cute.”

 

“I’m not cute; I’m supposed to be seductive.”

 

Luhan scoffed then reached out and grabbed my collar, pulling me down the few centimeter difference in our height. He smashed his lips against mine, warm and wet from licking them. My lips stung a little from the force, but I quickly pressed back, reaching my hands out to pull Luhan closer. He stepped back before I could touch him, breaking our liplock.

 

“Hurry home, Jongin ah,” Luhan said with a smile, eyes crinkling prettily.

 

My grin morphed into a smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow, hyung.”

 

It wasn’t until I was outside that I realized I didn’t really know where I was. I had followed Luhan blindly to his apartment last night. I’d have to take a taxi home so I could see how to get back to Luhan’s later. I pulled out my phone as I watched for bux stops outside the back window of the cab and dialed Taemin’s number.

 

“Your sisters keep calling.”

 

“Did you tell them where I was?”

 

“That’s your business. I just said at a friend’s I didn’t know. Are you headed home?”

 

“Yeah,” I said. “Would you call them and tell them I’m coming?”

 

“Do it yourself.”

 

“I don’t want to get yelled at yet. Tell them I have gifts, too.”

 

Taemin sighed. “Fine, but don’t call me the rest of the day. I’m going to Minho’s.”

 

I agreed and hung up.

 

Luhan’s apartment ended up not being far from the school and I figured I could find it easily after school and on the weekends if I took the route to school. I had the cab drop me off a block away from my apartment complex. I took the afternoon air deep into my lungs as I walked to calm myself from the onslaught to come with my sisters. I wondered if they would let me shower first since I was starting to feel a little gross wearing the same clothes as yesterday. That didn’t seem possible as the moment I was in front of the door, it popped open and Hyuna charged out, grabbing me in a tight hug.

 

“Dongsaeng!” she cried.

 

I tried to get out of her hold, but she was stronger than she looked. I gave in and let her hug me. Hyoyeon stood at the door staring at us with raised brows.

 

“She’s been crying all night wondered where you were,” Hyoyeon said.

 

“I thought I’d run you off,” Hyuna said, sniffling, eyes red as she looked up.

 

I patted her back. “Can we go inside?”

 

Hyuna pulled away and grabbed my hand. She led me inside and pushed me down onto the couch. Hyoyeon sat on one side and Hyuna on the other, both reaching in and grabbing me.

 

“Noona, Noona!” I yelled when Hyoyeon started to roughly ruffle my hair.

 

“It’s punishment for making your sisters worry over you,” Hyoyeon said.

 

“But I brought presents,” I said.

 

They finally let me go and I stood up, handing over the gifts. They looked over them seeming pleased. Hyuna even stuck one of the butterfly clips in her hair. Hyoyeon put her hair chalk away and put her attention on me.

 

“So, where were you?” she asked.

 

Hyuna stopped playing with the butterfly clip and got serious as well. “Yeah, just because you got us pretty things doesn’t mean we’re letting you off the hook.”

 

I blushed thinking of what to say. “I was…with someone.”

 

“Taemin said a friend he didn’t know,” Hyuna said. “Is it a bad friend?”

 

“No…they’re more than a friend,” I clarified.

 

“You were…with a girl!” Hyoyeon yelled.

 

Hyuna stood up and started shaking me. “You were with a girl we haven’t even seen a picture of? That’s so unfair.

 

“What if you got her pregnant?” Hyoyeon yelled more.

 

I swatted Hyuna away and took a step back. “No, look, it’s a boy, an older boy. I have a boyfriend.”

 

Hyuna and Hyoyeon just stared at me for a few seconds then Hyuna raised a brow. “You’re gay?”

 

“Uh…pan…something like that.”

 

Hyoyeon turned to Hyuna with a smug smile. “This explains why he’s so good with telling if a guy is a douchebag or not.”

 

I laughed. I couldn’t help it. “You guys seem okay with it.”

 

“Are you going to tell Mom?” Hyoyeon asked.

 

“Yeah,” I decided. “I’ll tell her.”

 

“Then we’re fine with it,” Hyoyeon continued.

 

“As long as we get to see him,” Hyuna added. “It’s only right we get to decide if he’s a douchebag or not, too.”

 

I grinned. “I’ll get a picture tomorrow.”

 


	16. White

**16. White:**

**Because there's always Light in the Dark.**

 

            I was cornered by Taemin at lunch. His white aura spiked out at me and he glared, arms crossed over his chest. I had barely walked out of the bathroom stall, hands held extended in front of me headed toward the sink.

 

“Taemin, do you have to stand in front of my stall while I’m taking a dump?”

 

Taemin took a step to the right and allowed be past so I could wash my hands. He stood behind me and watched me in the mirror.

 

“What is it, Taemin?” I asked.

 

He finally uncrossed his arms and sighed. “This is the last week of the first semester. You better eat with us today. Ever since Baekhyun and Chanyeol started talking again, you’ve been hiding away with Teacher Lu at lunch.”

 

That smile still couldn’t help but pain itself on my face with the mention of Luhan. It had been a couple of weeks and I was still giddy with the reality of having him as my boyfriend. It had taken two weeks before he invited me over to his apartment, and another week before he would let me do more than practice blowjobs with him, but it was all worth it, especially sneaking off to the roof during lunch and getting Luhan to act cuddly with me which usually happened after a few punches and talking about sports or dance. He had kind of made a no school rule when it came toward our relationship, but I still managed to steal a few kisses when no one was looking and offered to walk him to and from his classes often. A few of the other students teased me about it, but there wasn’t a law that said I couldn’t be nice to the student teacher.

 

Taemin was right, though, I was neglecting my friends. It was just before I had sex with Luhan the second time that Chanyeol and Baekhyun attempted to talk to each other again. Baekhyun formally introduced Jongdae and Chanyeol and surprisingly, Chanyeol was happy to befriend him. If it wasn’t for the slight awkwardness of Chanyeol remembering that Jongdae was the one that took Baekhyun away from him every now and then, they might have looked like long time friends.

 

I gave Taemin a sheepish look and agreed to eat with them. He dragged me out of the bathroom by one hand and I texted Luhan with the other that we wouldn’t be eating together this week.

 

To: My Hyung

From: Jonginnie ah

 

Taemin says I’m a bad friend so I have to eat with them this week. :(

 

To: Jonginnie ah

From: My Hyung

 

I think I like Taemin. Go eat with you friends; I’ll catch up with Yifan and Minseok.

 

To: My Hyung

From: Jonginnie ah

 

I love you <3

 

To: Jonginnie ah

From: My Hyung

 

Go eat lunch, Jongin.

 

<3

 

I smiled at the second text, an added heart to the message. Luhan still hadn’t said he loved me, but I wasn’t really expecting it. I wanted him to say it when he meant it, but he would probably need to know so much more about me. I was happy to oblige. I wanted to learn more about him, too. Once summer came, I planned on having him meet my sisters and then my mom. Mom had found out about me dating a guy the day before she had to go back to work. She hadn’t exactly been pleased, but she said she loved me and I figured being in so many other countries for work, she might have gained and open mind about these things. I was sure she’d love Luhan once she met him. I didn’t know when I’d tell my dad. I hoped I never had to.

 

Surprisingly, we headed to the cafeteria instead of the classroom. I followed Taemin slightly confused, but seeing the rambunctious bunch gathered up at a table in the corner, I could understand. The last time we’d all eaten together in the classroom, we had been quite loud. Chanyeol and Baekhyun were sitting next to each other seeming to be fighting over a math problem in the textbook they were sharing. Jongdae had one hand on Baekhyun’s thigh, visible under the table, as he leaned in to help them with the problem making sure that Baekhyun’s finger didn’t touch Chanyeol’s as they both poked the book to prove their points. Sehun sat quietly eating a sandwich next to Chanyeol, but I could see his ankle connected with Chanyeol’s under the table. Chanyeol didn’t seem bothered by it. Our eyes met when Sehun looked up and I smiled at him. He smiled back and lifted his foot a little to caress Chanyeol’s ankle then unhooked them. Chanyeol stuttered in making his point. I grinned and took a seat beside Sehun.

 

“Look who’s here,” Baekhyun said pulling himself away from the textbook.

 

Chanyeol frowned at me. “Why haven’t you eaten with us in soooo long?”

 

“Didn’t I tell you guys he was getting frisky with his new boyfriend up on the roof?” Taemin said and pulled out our lunches.

 

I happily took mine and almost moaned seeing the fried chicken inside, but I had to glare at my best friend first. “I do not get frisky on the roof. We just talk and cuddle.”

 

Baekhyun laugh. “I would pay to see you being cute with another boy.”

 

I held out my hand to him. “Give me 20,000 won and I’ll go get him for you.”

 

“Who is your boyfriend, anyways,” Sehun asked as he pressed a napkin onto Chanyeol’s face when rice got stuck around his mouth with playful force.

 

Chanyeol took the napkin and wiped his face off with it. “Taemin won’t tell us anything about him, and you haven’t said much, either.”

 

I chewed a piece of chicken carefully. Both Chanyeol and Baekhyun had big mouths, and with the conversations I had with Chanyeol over the phone, I learned Jongdae wasn’t much better (even if Baekhyun praised the guy every time we talked). I didn’t want them to know until Luhan was free of any incidents that might come of our relationship at school. I swallowed and took a sip of the bubble tea Sehun had ordered all of us.

 

“You guys will meet him when summer break starts. It’s a bit difficult right now to let you meet.”

 

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. “Whatever happened to your crush on Teacher Lu? There’s no way you’re dating him.”

 

I stuffed my face with more chicken so they wouldn’t be able to read my face, but choked when I accidentally swallowed. Taemin patted my back hard.

 

“You’ll find out during break,” Taemin assured them.  

 

“When during break?” Jongdae asked. “I’m curious, too.”

 

Kai tilted my head. “Well, he said he’s going to China for a week. I was trying to convince him to let me go with him, so probably before that.”

 

“China? Exchange student?” Chanyeol guessed.

 

I just smiled.

 

Chanyeol sighed. “Everyone’s going to have a passionate summer at this table, but me and Sehun.”

 

“Oh, I think you and Sehun will have plenty of passion by the end of summer,” Baekhyun said. “It’s not like I can’t see you guys playing footsies under the table all the time.”

 

Chanyeol blinked at Baekhyun then looked down. “I…can’t think about things like that yet.”

 

Baekhyun took a sip of his drink. “Sure you can’t. I wouldn’t be sitting here with you if you weren’t already moving on. You’re a great catch. I’m sure Sehun would happily jump on your train.”

 

I looked up to see Sehun glaring at Baekhyun, but when he caught Chanyeol giving him a shy glance, his look turned thankful. I was sort of siding with Baekhyun on this – Sehun and Chanyeol would probably be together by the end of summer break.

 

**(◕‿◕✿)**

 

We had an assembly on the Friday before first semester finished. I knew some students would try to skip it and head home early. Chanyeol tried to pull me out of the classroom with him, Baekhyun and Jongdae having already left to get some ‘personal time’ before listening to the drone of the principal for the last two hours of school. I declined. Luhan had just finished up his lesson in our class and I wanted to hang back with him for a while. Chanyeol rolled his eyes probably guessing I had plans to find my boyfriend and went off looking for Sehun.

 

The other students quickly filtered out of the classroom around me, bowing to Luhan and saying their goodbyes. The class president even handed over a large package as a gift. After summer break, Luhan would be finishing his classes and looking for a school to work at once he graduated. Today was the last day we’d be teacher and student.

 

Luhan let out a sigh once the classroom was empty from everyone but us. He ran his hand through his fluffy blonde hair and turned. There was a smile on his face before he even looked at me.

 

“I had a feeling you’d hang back, Jongin.”

 

“Today’s your last day,” I said.

 

Luhan looked down at the desk and ran his fingers along it. “That’s true. I think I’ll really miss it. I had some doubts at the beginning if this was really what I wanted, but it is.”

 

I smiled and stood, walking over to Luhan. “I think you’re a great teacher.”

 

Luhan moved into my arms without a complaint and let me hug him close. “Thank you, Jongin, but you only say that because you’re in love with me.”

 

I chuckled and rested my face in his hair. It smelled fresh, sort of minty. It was Luhan’s shampoo. I’d wanted to buy some after finding out what the scent was when showering at Luhan’s, but his bottle was in Chinese. He imported it from China. Luhan still wouldn’t agree for me to go with him to China, but maybe I could get him to buy me a bottle. And maybe I could get him to spend all the time until then with me. A week was a long time for new lovers.

 

“You should get to the assembly now, Jongin.”

 

“I don’t have any interest in going,” I said.

 

“You’ll get in trouble,” Luhan tried to protest shifting in my arms.

 

“Only if I try and leave school grounds. I don’t have plans on leaving this room until school is over,” I said.

 

Luhan looked up as me frowning. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

 

I grinned. “Are you still not letting me go with you to China?”

 

Luhan rolled his eyes. “No. I’m going to be staying with my parents and they don’t know about me being gay and stuff. I don’t plan on telling them until I’ve had a boyfriend for at least three years.”

 

“So I can meet them in three years?” I asked.

 

Luhan blinked at me surprised then leaned up and pecked my lips. “You need to stop that. You’re making my heart race and it’s stupid.”

 

I smiled and leaned down, kissing him. He didn’t push me away like he did when I usually stole kisses when no one was looking during school.

 

“You’re not complaining today.”

 

Luhan shrugged and pulled away, going to the chalkboard to erase what he’d written there. “There’s no one around right now.”

 

I moved up behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist, nestling my face into his neck. He shivered at my touch and put the eraser down.

 

“What are you doing Jongin?”

 

“Today’s probably the last day we’ll be student and teacher,” I said softly against his ear. “And since you’re not letting go to China with you, will you grant me a wish?”

 

Luhan leaned back, one hand coming to rest on top of mine. “What is it?”

 

“The teachers are patrolling the exits, but not the classrooms. I want to make one of my fantasies come true.”

 

“You want to have sex in the classroom?” Luhan asked.

 

I hummed and nipped his ear. “I want to bend you over the desk and fuck you hard, hyung….teacher.”

 

“Oh my gosh, Jongin, don’t do that,” Luhan yelled and wriggled in my grip.

 

I straightened up a pulled back. “I’ll lock the door. We don’t have to be loud.”

 

Luhan turned and waved a hand at me, his other hand covering his ear. “No, the ear thing; you’re going to make my legs give out.”

 

I grinned. “Then about the desk?”

 

Luhan blushed and turned to it then to the door. He walked over to it and locked it then started to pull the curtains close on all the windows. I watched him, a smile growing wider and wider.

 

“Is that a yes?” I asked.

 

Luhan walked over to the desk and sat on it, loosening his tie. “I don’t think I’ve rewarded you for loving my class so much, you masturbate to it.”

 

I blushed a bit. Luhan had somehow found a way to use me cumming on my homework against me. I cleared my throat and started for my own tie, pulling it loose. “How are you going to reward me, Teacher Lu?”

 

Luhan tilted his head from side to side and swung his feet. “First, I think you should drop your pants.”

 

My fingers immediately obeyed. I unbuckled my belt and pulled both my pants and boxers down. Luhan’s eyes immediately went to my member which was already hard with the thought of what we were going to do. He licked his lips and slid off the desk coming over to me. His long pale fingers wrapped around my member and I groaned. He started to stroke up and down, his other hand coming to the back of my neck and pulling me down for a kiss. I kissed back, tilting my head and getting deeper. My hands laid limply at my sides for a while as I tried to figure out what to do with them between the rushes of how amazing it was to kiss Luhan when he actually reciprocated the kiss, or better yet, started it. Eventually I decided to put one on Luhan’s long neck and the other on his hip and I moved my own hips with his hand.

 

Luhan pulled away, licking his lips and grinning. “There’s something I haven’t done for you yet, isn’t there?”

 

I looked at him curiously then my eyes widened when Luhan suddenly dropped to my knees. I had been the one giving the blowjobs wanting to get better at them. Luhan’s hand jobs were amazing enough that I couldn’t bring myself to ask for more especially when sometimes afterwards, he’d grab me again and stroke me to full hardness then get in my lap and slide down on my cock. I kind of loved that position, just sitting there and watching him move urgently on me until I could take it any more then pushing him down and drilling in. I liked to think Luhan liked it, too, but he seemed to look thoroughly fucked no matter what position we had sex in. We hadn’t had a lot of sex, though.

 

Luhan’s tongue trailed up my member and I moaned, reaching down and grabbing a fistful of his hair in surprise. He swatted my hand away and licked me again. I didn’t know where else to put my hands so I lifted them over my head and rested them behind my neck. Luhan started licking my tip and teasingly taking only a few inches in at a time. I looked down at him moaning seeing his small pretty pink lips wrapped around my erection like that, long eyelashes kissing as he moaned around it. He pulled off for a minute and I took that moment to have a thought.

 

“Hyung, you should undress…I might cum…and you don’t want to get dirty.”

 

He looked up at me then nodded. “You’re right.”

 

Luhan came back in and licked my member as he started to undress himself, pulling his vest and dress shirt off, but leaving the tie still loosened around his neck. He undid his pants and pushed them down with his underwear until I could see the cute globe of his butt. I didn’t get to stare long before he had taken me fully in.

 

I arched back and grabbed Luhan’s hair again with both hands. He didn’t swat my hands away this time. He focused on taking me deep into his mouth, sucking and moving his tongue around ways my girlfriend in middle school could have only dreamed about then. There was a realization that Luhan had probably done this with other guys before, but I just remembered I was the only one that had been inside him and I could forget the jealousy for the moment. Luhan was sucking me off and then I was going to get to make love to him while he was bent over the teacher desk – I wasn’t about to ruin that.

 

My stomach started twisting and a urged my member from Luhan’s mouth before I could cum. I’d do that another time, see if he was a swallower or if he rather I cum on his face or something. Right now I wanted to be in him. Luhan moaned displeasingly and looked up at me with red lips that were still parted from having me in between them. I held out a hand and he took it, quickly moving in for a kiss. I kissed back and moved Luhan onto the desk. Only his books were on it and he didn’t argue with I swiped them to the side, to sit him on the desk then push him down.

 

Our members touched and Luhan let out a gasp breaking away from the kiss. I attacked his neck and rutted against him for a few minutes before pulling away and going to my pants where I kept a small vial of lube just encase Luhan was ever in the mood to let me at least finger him during school hours. He was sitting up a bit on the desk when I came back, totally naked with only the tie around his neck and a brow raised. I just grinned and kissed him. He threaded his fingers into my hair and pulled me down, tongues entangling together.

 

Luhan had said I’d gotten good and stretching him. It didn’t seem so much in pain when I entered him anymore, but I couldn’t be sure that was because I stretched him properly or because he had gotten use to it. I tried not to go too fast, sucking Luhan’s nipples and the skin all across his chest where people wouldn’t see if I left a mark, to distract him from the unfulfilled pleasure and pain the stretched caused. Eventually he tugged my hair to get me to stop.

 

I let Luhan slide off the desk and turn around, butt facing toward the classroom and face look at the half erased chalkboard. I slid my shirt off so it wouldn’t get in my way and let my tie fall away as well before slicking up my member and grabbing Luhan’s butt cheeks to spread them. His entrance was puckered and twitched when I pressed my tip to it. He let out a soft whine when I pulled away. Luhan liked to get angry if I teased him too much, but I was still so fascinated by it all, by him. I pressed in halfway when he was about to whine again then waited until he muttered what sounded like cussing under his breath, but it was Chinese, so I couldn’t really understand most of it. I pushed in the rest of the way and Luhan pressed his forehead to the surface of the desk. I could hear him breathing heavily as he took in my girth and relaxed around me.

 

I counted to sixty-nine, ignoring Luhan’s pleas to go ahead. I liked feeling Luhan’s heat around me, feeling him tighten up then relax, then get impatient for me to move and it took that long before he got too impatient and I had to move because how could I not screw the guy I was in love with when he called my name like that.

 

“Jongin ah~~, please.”

 

The desk rocked with my movements. I tried not to go too fast at first, but Luhan was just as excited about this as I was and I probably started going too fast too early because Luhan let out surprised yelps of pleasure when I started grazing against that spot before he was ready for it. I could see him clawing at the desk in front of him, arching back only to go back to pressing his head against the table. Eventually, he grabbed his tie and stuffed it into his mouth and I figured he was close if he was afraid he’d moan too loud.

 

I held his hips tight against mine as I started to thrust as deep as I could, the desk really creaking. I wondered if it was an old desk and then I wondered if it’d break while we were having sex on it. It wasn’t like these teacher desks were made for such vigorous exercise. Luhan came suddenly. I could feel him tightening around me and I saw some of his cum splatter onto the front of the desk and running down. I moan low seeing it and thrust myself deep into Luhan, cumming there.

 

As I pulled out, I vaguely remembered I had a condom in my wallet that my sisters had given me the day I’d told our mother about me having a boyfriend. Since we were each other’s first, we hadn’t really used them. I searched the floor for a box of tissues and turned back to Luhan who was limply lying in the position I’d left him, staring off in a random direction.

 

“Hyung, do you want to come meet my sisters after school? You haven’t yet, but they already love you with the picture I showed them.”

 

Luhan turned and sat up on the desk, lying back and spreading his legs. I moved in between his legs and started to clean him off with the tissues I’d found.

 

“How about I meet them tomorrow? I think you’re going to have to come home with me,” Luhan said.

 

I looked up at him to see him giving me a small grin, eyes sort of blurred. I figured he was trying to look seductive, but he really didn’t have to try. He didn’t even have to ask. I’d go home with him any day.

 

**(◕‿◕✿)**

 

Chanyeol was the most surprised when I introduced Luhan as my boyfriend. It was the weekend before Luhan’s flight on Monday. Luhan had met my sisters the week before, walking me home after I’d spent the night. It had gone more than well and my sisters were all too happy to flirt with him just to rile me up and he actually went along with it, the sadistic lover. But, he stayed the night and I got back at them. When I walked into the park nonchalantly holding hands with Luhan, Chanyeol had screamed and jumped to his feet pointing at us.

 

“He’s your boyfriend!” he yelled and Baekhyun threw the soccer ball they’d brought at his face. It knocked against his head and fell into Sehun’s lap.

 

I rolled my eyes and let my hand slip from Luhan’s. “Well jeez, just out me in front of the whole of Seoul why don’t you?”

 

Chanyeol grinned sheepishly and sat back down. Sehun tapped Chanyeol’s head as a sort of punishment then leaned his head on his shoulder where it had probably been before Chanyeol had popped up. Jongdae had his legs awkwardly entangled with Baekhyun’s as he lay in the grass. He grinned seeing us and sat down only when Luhan moved to sit down beside him. I sat down as well and looked around wondering where Taemin was.

 

“Taemin’s late,” Baekhyun answered. “But we’re talking about you and your affair with the teacher right now.”

 

Luhan made a small noise and I turned to see him blushing. I resisted kissing him, we were in public after all and Luhan still wanted a chance to get a job.

 

“How did you actually get him to like you back?” Chanyeol asked. “I mean you were kind of a dick to him last time I knew.”

 

“I was just teasing him,” I defended.

 

Luhan chuckled and patted my head. “I talked some sense into him and he stopped being stupid. And once I knew why he was acting like that, he was kind of cute.”

 

Baekhyun laughed. “I should have known it. There aren’t any Chinese exchange students at our school. I never imagined Jongin would actually be able to date someone he actually liked. He liked Taemin for years and never said anything to him.”

 

I glared at Baekhyun. That had been a conversation back when we had first became friends and we talked about our first crushes. I was regretting telling him and his big mouth.

 

“You liked Taemin?” Luhan asked. There was maybe what looked like fear in his eyes.

 

I shook my head. “When I was a little, little, little kid; we were bestfriends and he kind of looked like a princess.”

 

Luhan laughed. “Taemin is attractive.”

 

I nodded in agreement.

 

“You were the student teacher?” Sehun asked. “You were in our dance class sometimes, too.”

 

“Yeah, it’s a bit weird sitting here telling you I’m your friend’s lover,” Luhan said rubbing the back of his neck, fingers ghosting across a hickey I had tried to hide under his hair.

 

“Lover?” Baekhyun asked then turned to me with a feral grin. “You lost your virginity to the student teacher?”

 

Luhan turned to me with a brow raised. “You didn’t tell them we were having sex? I thought you would.”

 

I shrugged. I only told Taemin and my sisters because they kind of knew already with me staying at his house and Taemin calling.

 

Baekhyun whistled in approval.

 

I rolled my eyes and started picking at the grass. “It was a joint loss.”

 

Luhan punched me lightly in the arm. I grabbed his hand in mine and held it tight.

 

“Jongin!” someone called.

 

I turned to see Taemin jogging over to us. He stopped a little ways away from the group, cellphone held tight in his hand. He seemed nervous and I studied his white aura. It was sparking out in nervous crackles.

 

“I uh…” he started. “I thought there might be an uneven number of players for soccer, so I brought someone with me.”

 

My eyes widened. ‘Someone’ meant Key, Onew, or…Minho. Taemin’s eyes met mine and he smiled at me, white aura sparking even more.

 

“I need Jongin to come with me for a moment, though; I have stuff two people can’t carry. You don’t mind if I steal him, do you, Teacher…I mean Luhan hyung?”

 

Luhan gave me a look probably wondering if we were going to get in a fight or something. I gave him a nod that said it was okay and stood, following Taemin toward where cars parked along the rode of the park we’d come to play at.

 

“So, how did the others take to you introducing Luhan as your boyfriend?” Taemin asked as we walked.

 

“Chanyeol was surprised, but the others were like ‘oh’,” I said.

 

Taemin chuckled. “That’s good, though. And your sisters are okay with it?”

 

I nodded. “They said we’re not allowed to have sex in the house anymore though.”

 

Taemin knocked his shoulder against mine. “You still do stupid things sometimes. What about your mom?”

 

“I’m introducing them when Luhan gets back from China. She has a vacation then.”

 

Taemin nodded and started slowly his steps. I could see a familiar car a little ways away, the closest I had ever been to meeting Minho. I glanced at Taemin. He finally stopped walking and turned to me.

 

“Jongin, I’m really in love with him. He makes it easy to be gay and to be me. I want my bestfriend and my lover to get along. Try to be respectful even if…our colors don’t match, and whatever you do, don’t tell me his color, I don’t want to know.”

 

My heart started to beat heavy in my chest. Taemin was finally letting me meet Minho. “Why now?”

 

“You’re not one hundred percent sure Luhan’s color matches yours, but you still worked hard to get him to like you and he’ll be gone for a whole week. I want us three to hang out together. I want to go on double dates with you. And he likes soccer; too, I think he and Luhan would get along.”

 

I smiled. “You’ve really wanted me to get a boyfriend, haven’t you?”

 

“I planned to introduce you at graduation, but then you started dating Luhan. I can trust you with this, right?”

 

Taemin was looking at me with uncertainty in his eyes and it made me feel guilty. Sometimes I hated my power. It was a glitch, but maybe I’d understand it one day in the future when I watched my nieces and nephews build sand castles on the beach in Jeju when we visited my father. Taemin and his family would be there. Onew would be married with a little girl and she’d match one of my nephews and my mother would meet a younger police patrolling the beach and it would all make sense.

 

I nodded. “I promise, Taemin. I trust your choices.”

 

Taemin took in a big breath then led me the rest of the way to the car. The back hood was raised and I could hear someone messing around back there, but I couldn’t see them or their aura.

 

“Minho,” Taemin called out.

 

A tall figure walked around the car. I took in his long legs and what looked like a heavily sculpted chest under a tight workout shirt and then a small handsome face with large eyes. They grew wider seeing me.

 

“Oh, you brought Jongin. Do we finally get to meet?”

 

Taemin smiled and pounced over to Minho’s side putting one hand on Minho’s arm. “Minho, Jongin, Jongin, Minho.”

 

I bowed. Minho did, too, and then reached his hand out for mine. I wrapped both my hands around his to shake and that was when I couldn’t ignore the licks of black aura around him.

 

I stood back up and smiled genuinely at Taemin and him. “It’s nice to meet you, Minho hyung.”


End file.
